In fact, I was just having a conversation with a young couple
two days ago who mentioned how after they moved to town they couldn’t seem to
meet people and make friends. They tried to meet people at the library, the gym,
and even signed up for a hiking club that treated them like outsiders. Finally,
they decided to come to church and were delighted to find a community of people
who were happy to invite them over to dinner and even to join our Wednesday
Walkers small group.
While this seems like a small thing, humans are not
designed to be isolated. We are built to live together and work with one
another for our common benefit and happiness. Community, it seems, is a
necessary thing for people. This is particularly important when people are facing
real hardship in their lives. Left with no support system, people dealing with real
difficulty often turn to drugs, violence, and other unsavory methods to
redirect their longing for the care and support they are really looking for. Ultimately,
they end up finding for a cheap replacement for the love, care, and validation they
really need.
It is important for us in the church to remember that all
people have this need for love, and that the richest source of love is God’s
love; a love found in the heart of the Christian community. It is up to us then
to reach out to those people in our lives and in our communities who need us.
It is up to us to see the people on the margins and invite them in to a place
of love and grace. Perhaps when the church decides to do this with all its
energy the world will become a safer, healthier, and more loving place to be.
