Alone

A few days ago, Caitlin and I discovered a gripping television show called Alone. The pro-gram follows the self-documented progress of 10 contestants, all skilled survivalist, who are dropped in the middle of nowhere to survive. With the exception of medical check-ins, each contender is isolated from civilization and other humans. Left with only a limited amount of survival equipment and a few cameras to capture their journey, each survivalist must seek to stay alive as long as they can on their own. They may “tap out” at any time during the show, but the contestant who remains the longest wins a grand prize of $500,000.

Even though each participant is a skilled survival expert, they each struggle with the daily challenges of their environment, limited resources, wildlife, and the most difficult battle of them all—being alone. Even though we’ve watched only a few episodes of this program, I can’t help but be struck by the belief that we aren’t designed to be alone. In fact, when we open the Bible, God actually says so Himself. After observing His newly formed creation, God declared that “it was good” (Genesis 1:25). However, God soon found one thing that was not good and said, “it is not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). God didn’t create man to be alone. He knew mankind’s existence on this earth would be arduous and tortuous without companionship. Therefore, God fashioned a beautiful woman to be Adam’s companion. In so doing, God unlocked the door to a family, to children, and to civilization. We were never meant to be alone.

Not only did God design the family to answer the problem of loneliness, but God’s infinite wisdom also created the church to be a place where we can experience a relationship with Him and His people. When a person is saved by God’s grace, God immediately adds them the body of the saved (Acts 2:47). Therefore, when a person gives their life to Jesus Christ, they find immediate connection to God and His people. After conversion, it is God’s plan for the new believer to find community in a faithful body of His people where they can grow, develop, worship, serve, and be cared for as a child in His kingdom. The local church ought to be a haven of authentic relationships, lasting connections, and edifying interactions with other Christians.

Sadly, even though this world is occupied by billions of people, many feel all alone. Masses of people are wandering through this maze of life craving connections, hungering for real relationships, and looking for some sense of community. Let us be reminded that we weren’t created to be alone and nobody can make it in this world living like an island. We need each other! Furthermore, let’s do our part to reach out to a world that is craving connection. Let’s be the community of believers God calls us to be. Let’s work at developing our relationships with one another, investing in the lives of our fellow Christians, and showing one another that we really are not alone.