THE INNER RING

It is in our nature to want to feel accepted and connected with the things of this world.  God created us with the desire to build community and fellowship with one another.  However, selecting friends can be a risky endeavor.  I remember how important it was to me in middle school to be popular... I wanted to do whatever it took, which included changing my appearance and personality.  I learned later on how foolishly I was behaving, and how unimportant popularity was in the grand scheme of things.  

Lewis argues that this drive will exist in me to some extent forever.  The feeling of being "left out" is horrible, and so this causes people to commit to things that they aren't really interested in or don't bring glory to God's name.  They sign onto these activities solely because they want to avoid the feeling of curiosity and jealousy.  

It's important to have friends, and even to belong to groups as long as they support the gifts that God has given you and they compliment your interests.  It makes no sense to sign onto something you don't agree with, yet we do it so often.  We want to discover these "insides" but are warned that we will not receive anything true and good if we pursue them.