In this age of social media, there has been a lot of talk about building community. People have put so much time and effort into building their social platforms, with the goal of attracting people to their pages and/or accounts, and hopefully acquiring followers who like their content / support their business. (We have a few accounts ourselves – if you haven’t followed us yet, please do!).
The followers on any page/account form an online community of people, who interact with the content on the pages they follow, and sometimes interact with others who follow the page as well. These interactions can be interesting…to say the least.
Social media has provided people with increased opportunities for connection – with their own friends and family, and with people who they previously would not have had any connection with at all. It has provided businesses with expanded reach and exposure. It has given people more access to athletes, celebrities, other well-known personalities. It has provided more access to for training, gaining knowledge, and education. Through social media you can learn new things, support local businesses, find some entertaining content, get a good laugh, and share ideas/thoughts/teachings with other like-minded persons. Social media has really increased society’s ability to connect digitally.
BUT… in this time of increased connectivity, people are actually feeling more alone than ever. Studies have shown a direct correlation between the use of social media and feelings of increased isolation – one study indicated that 7 out of 10 persons with a high amount of social media use experienced increased feelings of isolation, loneliness, and sometimes anxiety/depression (CNBC 2020).
Why is that??
Because, as entertaining as social media is, your followers, and the ones you follow, are not your real community.
Even though social media provides avenues of connection with others, it doesn’t provide you with the community you need to actually thrive. Digital interactions with others do not fill the need for real personal relationships.
Real community is doing real life with others! Real community is more than liking a post, or commenting on a video, or dropping emoji’s to express how you feel. It is more than interacting with the curated images, posts and videos you see online. Even the most “honest” posts are still edited / tweaked / pre-planned before they are posted for view.
Being part of a real community means people get involved in your life – they are with you for the good, the bad, the beautiful, and sometimes the ugly.
People get to know the REAL you – not just the parts you present online. When you are part of a real community, there is personal interaction – people get to know your personality, your character, and your likes / dislikes. Friends from your community will visit your home; share meals with you; interact with your children; play with pets; and participate in recreational activities. You create bonds, great friendships, and create memories. Your children play with their children, and they become friends too! A real community goes so far beyond digital interactions.
When you are part of a community, you are actually doing life together with other people. You receive personal/emotional support, encouragement, and a sense of belonging. We are not called to live alone!
God intended for us to be in relationship with each other – we were created with an innate need to belong, to connect, and to develop friendships and relationships in our lives. From the very beginning, God saw that Adam should not be alone. Adam was lonely and needed relationship, so God created Eve (Genesis 2).
God is relational, and He created us the same way. As believers, we need to be connected to other believers; we need to belong to a church community; we need to be among those who believe as we do, and who are working towards the same goal – building the Kingdom!
There are so many benefits to being part of a community of believers…
1. It connects us with others so we can do life together (not alone).
2. It creates opportunities for learning, for growing, and for discipleship.
3. It challenges us to be more like Jesus.
4. It helps keep us accountable as we live and grow.
5. It encourages maturity – in ourselves, and in our faith.
6. It helps meet emotional and practical needs.
7. It creates opportunities to reach and impact your community.
8. It empowers you to grow in your relationship with God.
9. It provides opportunities to walk in grace and forgiveness.
10. It helps you learn to work through conflict.
Community is such an amazing blessing!
Friends, don’t do life alone!!! You were not created to live this way. Find a healthy community that will help you grow and mature, and will connect you with some great people to do life with!!
Pastor Christine Hassan