Our world today is changing… at a very rapid speed.

Some of these changes are good and exciting… the age of Social Media and it’s use in advertising, branding and marketing is evolving so rapidly it’s difficult to measure some of the results and see who the experts really are.

Other changes are scary… I heard last night on the news that single parent households have now surpassed those of married couples. Ouch!!

You may be aware that I attend what is considered a fairly progressive church in Jacksonville, Florida… Access Church. We’re a daughter church of Andy Stanley’s North Point Ministeries out of Alpharetta, Georgia. If you don’t know Andy, you may have heard of his father, Charles Stanley… and if you attend church you no doubt have seen some influences of what is considered the evangelical church movement in the world today… these changes my be apparent in your church too. One really cool thing about North Point is how incredibly open they are… they actually WANT to help other churches advance the kingdom of God (that would be “A Win!”). Moreover, for a progressive church, ours is firmly based on Biblical truths and foundation. I especially like that!

As a church on the move (literally, we’re a portable church), we have a lot of volunteers. With that heightened level of activity comes lots of interaction… and the need to establish safe boundaries. I firmly believe marriage is a sacred vow, and one that we should cherish and protect… and while I’m not married at the moment, if you are it’s very important to me to helping preserve the integrity of your marriage.

From a few conversations with leaders at Access (and some thinkin’), I pieced together the following list of guidelines to managing opposite sex friendships:

• Avoiding being alone with a woman other than my daughters, my mom, and my first wife’s mom (Grammy Ann, who is one of my closest friends). Since I’m currently single and not in a committed relationship, I would add to that list likewise single women.
• Carefully choosing to associate with like-minded people (particularly those within my closest circle of friends) as these people have the potential not only to influence my decisions… but also to put me in compromising situations.
• Guarding my interactions on the phone, e-mail, facebook and other social media so that I’m extending the intent of my interactions beyond those involving direct, personal contact.

In doing this I’m consciously not putting myself in situations where I could be tempted to do the wrong thing, and showing the utmost respect for others.

Obviously there may be some work-related situations where this would have to be modified slightly… while at the same time this could be achieved with the same level of respect.

While our world is changing rapidly, these seem to be fairly straightforward and grounded standards to follow.

What would you add to this list?