We Need Each Other
Never have we, as a society, discovered how important community really is; or maybe it’s just me. We as a couple were in a weird season anyway, then add the lockdowns and I’m aching for my people! My heart is crying out for community, relationships and just plain ole let’s hang out, get-togethers in my life! Anyone else?
We were built for community. From the very beginning God said ”It is not good for man to be alone.” Genesis 2:18. Human beings need one another as much as we would like for that not to be so sometimes. Where are my Introverts? Since the world stopped, suicides, depression, domestic abuse and alcoholic abuse are all on the rise.
Isolation is a very dangerous thing. We all need some time to ourselves, but we also need community. Social isolation is the cause for a variety of psychological and mental challenges. Prisoners are placed in solitary confinement as punishment. A recent study has showed the negative psychological effects which has led to professional metal health workers to suggest a drastic limit of it’s use. The United Nations considers solitary confinement exceeding 15 days to be torture. (Wikipedia)
Community is a feeling of belonging, mattering, sharing common attitudes, interests and goals. There is no better feeling than when you are in need or hurting and another human being is there for support and comfort when you need it most.
It is very rewarding when you can help someone or make a difference in their lives by your help or presence. Acts of kindness raise Dopamine levels in our body that elevates our mood, a feeling we can’t get flying solo. Although human beings are selfish creatures by nature, the very act of selflessness by helping another person is a far better feeling than only thinking of ourselves.
Healthy relationships are designed to help us grow as a person, challenge us and sharpen us. Proverbs 27:17 says “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” We cannot always see ourselves clearly, we all have blinders, so having people we are in relationship with give honest feedback to us can be extremely helpful.
During this pandemic we have had to shut our churches down and have church from our couches. I for one have loved watching services in my PJ’s! In reality, we cannot continue to do this long term. Actual church attendance is important for many reasons. Jeff McNiell states, “You can’t serve from your sofa. You can’t have community from your sofa. Christians aren’t consumers, we are contributors, we don’t watch, we engage and give. We encourage and do life together. The church needs us, and we need the church.”
"Studies show that people who feel a sense of belonging develop fewer psychiatric and depressive disorders than those who do not have the feeling of love and belonging. Social isolation is both a potential cause and a symptom of emotional or psychological challenges.” (Wikipedia) Ecclesiastes 4::10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.”
The bottom line is…we need each other. Especially as the Church, God needs us to be a community of believers that go out into the world and make a difference. We can unite under the cause of spreading the Gospel to a lost and dying world in need of a Savior.
It takes every one of us. I need you and you need me. We each have different gifts and talents that together will make a bigger impact than either of us could alone. People can be annoying and at times we need our space, and that’s ok. But we still need to work together for the cause of Christ and for our own well-being as people.
Father I’m asking for you to give us all a revelation of how important community is. How much we need one another. Show us how to work with others that we disagree with. Help is to lay aside our differences and look to the greater things that we can do when we are in unity. Give us the grace to be one….