A God-Centered Antidote to the Loneliness Epidemic

It seems like everyone’s talking about loneliness these days. This topic of conversation is so prevalent, in fact, that if I’m honest, I must admit that I’ve begun to tune out some of the noise.

It’s kind of like how we compartmentalize the many warnings our parents offer us when we’re young. “Eat your peas, Johnny.” “Don’t run at the pool, Sally.” “Floss,” “read the syllabus,” “get eight hours of sleep”— “be social!”

And yet, we need to realize that God wants us to be in community with other believers for his glory. Consider what David said in Psalm 16:2–3.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.

David connects his delight in the people of God with his delight in the goodness of God. They’re not two different rivers of joy he’s drinking from: people-of-God-river over here and God-river over there. The saints in the land are evidence of God’s goodness, and so when David delights more in them, he’s simultaneously delighting more in God.

The apostle Paul makes this point in Ephesians 3:20–21.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

When Paul ascribes glory to God in the church and in Christ Jesus, he’s not speaking of two different kinds of God’s glory: glory of God in the church over here and glory of God in Christ Jesus over there. Like David, Paul is connecting these two and making the startling claim that the church is the canvas where God displays his glory in the face of Christ Jesus.

God is painting a portrait of himself, and if you’ve trusted in Jesus to forgive your sins and submitted your life to his authority, then you are a part of that canvas. But you are only one part of that canvas—one square inch made up of billions of other square inches, square inches from every nation, tribe, and tongue. If you want to fully appreciate the genius of the Divine Artist, then you’ve got to look at the full canvas he’s painting on. In other words, if you want to know God more, you’ve got to know the church more.

Let’s talk about four things that should change in light of God’s comprehensive redemptive work in the church.

1. If the Church Displays God’s Glory, It Should Change How We See Christians

C. S. Lewis, reflecting on how others can draw out characteristics of our friends we’d never see otherwise, applies that phenomenon to Christian community and our knowledge of God: “For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest. . . . The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we shall have.”^{11 .} Lewis, C. S. Quoted in Tim Keller’s book, The Prodigal God: Rediscovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (New York: Penguin Books, 2008), 141–142.

When you walk past your Christian brothers and sisters at church, you’re walking by opportunities to know God more.

So, schedule a coffee. Put down your phone and ask your friend a question about themselves. You’re talking to someone who can show you unique aspects of God’s character and excellency. This may take the form of them sharing something with you that they read in their quiet time recently, or a prayer they’ve been praying, or an encouraging word for you, or a story of how they came to know Jesus, or any one of a thousand other things! The point is that, because other Christians offer us the chance to see more of who God is, we should relate with them meaningfully.

I hope this changes how you see Christians.

2. If the Church Displays God’s Glory, It Should Change How We See the Local Church

After the Holy Spirit filled believers in Acts, what did they do? They started local churches. And what did they do after the gospel penetrated new areas? They planted more local churches. And who did Paul write his letters to? Local churches and pastors of local churches.

If we’re trying to walk with Jesus without walking alongside a local church, we’re doing something New Testament Christians weren’t doing, and even more serious than that, we’re missing out on an opportunity to see more of God. God has supercharged things like faithful preaching, congregational singing, corporate prayer, and even our fellow members to show us his glory (Eph. 4, Rom. 12:3–8, and 1 Pet. 4:10–11).

So, get to know the Miss Shirleys who’ve been walking with Jesus for sixty years—through widowhood, depression, and cancer. God has placed them in your life so that you can experience aspects of God’s character that would otherwise likely go unnoticed.

Get to know your pastors who are undershepherds of the Chief Shepherd. While God may use an Instagram reel from a celebrity who you’ll never meet to do you good, he’s also more importantly provided shepherds for you in your own church. Jesus wants to pastor you through these pastors right where you are. Through his Spirit, he wants to apply his Word to you with specificity, and so he has placed pastors in your life who know your fears, your temptations, and your suffering.

When you commit to a local church who has committed to you, you can expect to grow in understanding and love for God, who saved you and called you to be a part of his family.

I hope this changes how you see the local church.

3. If the Church Displays God’s Glory, It Should Change How We See Other Churches

What truth will undercut tribalism and cancel culture in modern evangelicalism?

In 1 Corinthians 3:21–23, Paul tells us that other churches have grace that’s ours to enjoy.

So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

There was nothing Paul or Apollos or Cephas could give the Corinthians that wasn’t already theirs through Christ. And because the Corinthians had everything through Christ, there was nothing Paul or Apollos or Cephas could take away from them.

Union with Christ takes a chainsaw to the legs of tribalism because, through Christ, all of God’s grace in all God’s people is yours.

The evangelistic zeal at the big church on 4th street is yours. The fruit of the Spirit at the small church you drive by every Sunday is yours. The faithful prayer at the Pentecostal church in Tokyo is yours. The doctrinal integrity of the Baptist church in Cairo is yours.

You’re a citizen of a diverse kingdom, a never-ending, sprawling city of conspicuous grace, and it’s all yours. Every church is a new road that promises unique glory. Each congregation is a new peak with a landscape you’ve never seen before. So, go! Explore. Discover.

How should you do this? Well, it’s obviously not through church hopping every Sunday rather than committing yourself to a local congregation. Instead, try reading and appreciating books from faithful Christian authors outside of your context. Speak well of churches in your city. Encourage your church to partner with other churches in evangelism and church planting. Correct others who joke about the flaws of Christian leaders. There’s too much at stake to disregard and demean other churches. God’s glory is in those churches.

I hope that changes how you see other churches.

4. If the Church Displays God’s Glory, It Should Change How We See Non-Christians

In Revelation 7:9–10, the apostle John receives a vision of the complete, global church—a sneak peek of a canvas that’s completely filled in with God’s glory.

But that canvas hasn’t been filled in yet, which means we need to go to the corners of the canvas with the gospel. When the full number of that great multitude in Revelation 7 follows Jesus, the portrait of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ will be complete, and we will see Jesus face to face.

The completion of the Great Commission and God’s revelation in Jesus are not unrelated. We need all the saints in the land to fully delight in the goodness of God (Ps. 16:2–3).

So, ask your non-Christian co-workers if they’ll read the Bible with you. Get an internship in Dubai. Spend the rest of your life in Japan.

Let’s watch God fill up the canvas with his glory! Let’s know the church fully. Let’s know God fully. The loneliness epidemic does not get the final say over the Christian who has been afforded so much.