A Scout Is Friendly

A Scout is Friendly... What does it even mean to be "friendly"?

Friendly can be defined as a characteristic of or befitting a friend; showing friendship; like a friend; kind; helpful; favorably disposed; inclined to approve, help, or support; not hostile, amicable; able to coexist with something without harm or trouble.

I've been in restaurants that have said they are "family friendly" and I've met a dog that I would describe as being "friendly" but never really thought about why I gave it that label. Was it, perhaps, because it was happy to see me, wagged its tail, eagerly awaited my interaction? Would I be as liberal at handing out that label to a person, perhaps, that was a little shy and wouldn't so readily engage?

Whoa! That's a lot. But, think about it. Think about the image Scouting has on the world at large. A group of leaders and youth who are ready and willing to step in and help and who are a friend to all. Treating others as they'd wish to be treated. Joyful servant hearts. Friendly.

The Boy Scout Handbook states:

“A Scout is a friend to all. He is a brother to other Scouts. He offers his friendship to people of all races and nations, and respects them even if their beliefs and customs are different from his own.”

An interesting takeaway is that it certainly exemplifies that a Scout's friendliness shouldn't be limited to his family or even his inner circle but to everyone.

Proverbs 17:17 – A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

Ever heard "A friend in need is a friend indeed." To be a friend, you must be... friendly!

John 15:12-17 – My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

The Scout Law seems to be an enormous Venn diagram where every characteristic overlaps the next which completely begins to embody exactly what it is to be a Scout: loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, cheerful.... think about it. A Scout is a friend to all.