What is a Friend?

Christians: Siblings, Not ‘Friends’? by Wesley Hill

But a story like the one my friends recounted confronts me with the question of whether the relationships they enjoy—in which meals are prepared, help is given and received—are best described as “friendships” at all. From my friends’ neighbors’ perspective, my friends’ church network seems more familial than friendly. It seems more like a circle of siblings than a network of acquaintances.

As those commenting on the post point out, it's the author's premise about what friendship is that may be the source of bewilderment - even if it is drawn from the experience of contemporary "relationships" that are called friendships. Familial language is used in the NT because we become adopted Sons of God through Christ and are all given the privilege of calling God "Father." But (as Aristotle points out) that does not mean that those who are family cannot also be friends - the two words mean different things which are not mutually opposed.