Are you lonely?

Feeling isolated, in despair, withdrawn, or secluded?

Those feelings are shared by many Americans. Why?

We can take some guesses. It could be that one of the after-effects of the COVID pandemic is that folks are having trouble returning to social life and gathering with others, like they had in days pre-COVID.

It could be that we’re falsely led to think that brief and shallow communications with electronic devices are a replacement for real and deeper personal interaction.

I am not sure on the underlying reasons. But of this much I am sure. The problem is serious. And it’s real.

Just a couple evidences. I’ve recently returned from spending ten days at our church’s sister congregation and children’s home in Honduras. In that regard, wrap your head around these statistics.

The average annual income in Honduras is around $2,500 per year. In the United States, the annual average income is around $70,000 per year.

Despite this gigantic income disparity, the suicide rate in the United States is 8 times higher than in Honduras.

Not twice as high. Not four times as high. Eight times higher!

Secondly, as my wife and I sat on the plane next to a young man who was working in the United States, but was a native Honduran, we asked him, “Where would you rather live full time?” His answer was telling. He shared, “I make lots more money in the United States. But I’d rather live in Honduras with less money, where people take more time for each other.”

What’s the cure for the feelings of withdrawal and loneliness in American communities?

Maybe, just maybe, these two items are linked:

Increasingly, many Americans are feeling isolated and lonely.

Increasingly in the United States, the local church is fairly empty on Sunday mornings.

So it is that the writer to Hebrews encourages, “Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. But encourage one another — and all the more as you see the final day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25

The remedy for this isolation might be as close as your church sanctuary. The anti-isolation medicine might just be God’s Word and God’s people.

The Lord meant the church to be a place, where we repeatedly hear the good news that God loves us and forgives us in Christ Jesus. In a world where we hear plenty of the sad, we need to be reminded of the glad … of Jesus’ promises such as “Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

The church, despite its shortcomings and warts, is meant to be a place where “we encourage one another.”

If you’re new to trying a church, please don’t expect this to happen almost miraculously with a single visit to your local church. It probably won’t. And church won’t be a mini-heaven on earth.

Do some homework. Don’t just seek out entertainment. Spend some time seeking out a church that has solid and enduring Biblical preaching and teaching. Go to church with the purpose of getting spiritual food, getting involved with others, and serving others.

“God sets the lonely in families.” Psalm 68:6

That family might just be your local church.

John Lehenbauer, Pastor

Christ Lutheran Church and School, Perry, Georgia

christlutheranperry@gmail.com

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