Lent Devotion 31

“Research portrays Americans as increasingly insecure, isolated, and lonely.” This comes from the book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other by MIT Professor Sherry Turkle [p. 157]. This is a book I highly recommend. But this one observation is quite interesting to me. Insecure, isolated, and lonely. To me this is exactly what the church is supposed to be preventing. When you are part of a church, you celebrate that you and all people are loved. This undermines insecurity. As for being isolated and lonely, a church gives you a community in which to be yourself and be loved. Church brings people together with common values. Jesus’ ministry specifically addressed welcoming those who were outcast and ostracized into the community. In the mission statement of Lakewood UCC we commit to offering “the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people.” The church should be all about combatting insecurity, isolation, and loneliness. How are we doing?

I would be interested in research that compares the rate of insecurity, isolation, and loneliness among people who go to church (or some other faith community) and those who do not. I have friends who do not go to church. And one of the reasons they do not go is because they feel church is exclusivistic, judgmental, and irrelevant. These characteristics would contribute to insecurity, isolation, and loneliness. If you feel that the church is continuously telling you that you are “unworthy” then what do you have to contribute to a relationship?

But at it’s best, at its truest and most genuine, the church should be directly countering insecurity, isolation and loneliness. We are created in God’s image to live in community. Research showing an increase in insecurity, isolation, and loneliness is but another reminder that there are many people who need the church. But do they know that church is available to them and what it has to offer? Maybe not. It is our responsibility to see that people know that at church there is an antidote to insecurity, isolation, and loneliness. Not only do individuals need this, but it will improve the well-being of our society. A culture of insecure, isolated, lonely people is a very scary proposition.

Prayer: We pray for all those who feel insecure, isolated and lonely. There is so much heartache in the world. While we have ever more ways of connecting, we can become more and more separate. We pray for hearts open to reach out and extend the love and communion of Christ to those who feel abandoned and alone. May we not be afraid to create community through shared honesty and vulnerability. Amen.