Meaningful Discourse

Last night I went to see Art for the second time and enjoyed it as much, if not more, than the first time. It is a story of three friends, one of whom pays 200 grand for a painting that another hates and the way that their friendship begins to unravel.

A group of us were discussing the play afterwards and someone commented that they don't have many friendships that go deep enough to have the sort of real and raw conversations that come about in the play.

Both in Immanuel house churches and at Austin Inklings, we place meaningful discourse as one of our goals. Why is it that meaningful discourse is so hard to find? Can you have meaningful discourse without first having meaningful friendships? Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?