It’s finally Friday…and I am Pastor James St. John.
There is a crisis in our world…in our country…within our churches.
This crisis is crippling us emotionally and spiritually. It is the crisis of loneliness.
A survey from 2021 tells us that 1 in 6 adults feel isolated or alone. The same survey says that young adults are twice as likely to feel alone or isolated than the population over 65 years old. There are a number of factors that contribute to this, of course, that we do not have time or space to discuss, at length. So, we will not.
However, we do need to understand that loneliness leads to all sorts of issues that create problems for us as human beings, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These problems, many times rooted in stress and feelings of worthlessness, etc. create a situation that leads to shortened life spans and a myriad of health problems.
The simple solution is connection. If you have heard it once, you have heard it a thousand times from the pastors and leaders of Freedom Church, “We need each other.” We really do.
Greater love has no one than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13
Listen, love is the rock solid foundation on which the gospel of Jesus is built. It is rooted and grounded in the love of God, first, for His creation. That love, expressed in an especially concrete way on the cross, where Jesus died to open the way for restored relationship with God, has been poured out into the hearts of believers by the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus said the real indicator or proof of our faith would be in how we love one another.
Just as Jesus gave His life, we are to give ours. It is in that giving that “I” becomes “We.” “I” is so much less than “we.” We need to grasp this.
The enemy of our souls would “love” us to continue to isolate, while God desires us to integrate.
The enemy of our souls wants us to continue to follow the path of “my rights,” rather than follow Jesus down the path of self-denial and sacrifice.
The enemy clears the path and paves the way broadly to our destruction through isolation and selfishness, while Jesus, the lover of our souls, invites us down the narrow, sometimes difficult path of life-giving love and connection.
We…the people of Jesus…must link arms, join hands, and make a determined effort to shun the path of least resistance toward isolation and division. It is time for you and I to create some connections, first of all with those who share our faith in Jesus and then, beyond.
It is time for us to stop just going to church and for us to be the Church.
Now, before we get overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. Let’s hear from someone who will help us understand the measure of what we are really talking about.
Sacrifice and the corresponding virtue of humility aren’t built on giant gestures as much as they are forged with consistent, thoughtful actions of an everyday nature.
Gary Thomas
Ultimately, it’s the little things that will matter the most…the every day kindness.
I’m reminded of the quarter I spent on a can of Dr. Pepper and shared with a freshman at Trevecca. I also spent a few minutes encouraging his heart…then, forgot about the moment. Four years later, I saw that same man, now graduating from Trevecca. He hugged my neck and thanked me, reminding me of the moment. It had changed his life. Without that moment, he told me, he would have returned home discourage and defeated. Because I spent a quarter and listened to his heart for a few minutes he was graduating and has had a career in education. Not a giant gesture, by any stretch.
Yes. It’s the little things.