People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
Loneliness Is Epidemic
by James W. Moss, Sr.
A horrible disease is sweeping our land. AIDS, drug and alcohol abuse, and immorality are but symptoms. We have designed a culture that fosters loneliness. The new phenomena is to stay at home. I initially heard it called "cocooning." You order food to be delivered to the house. Movies are rented and seen at home. The television was a major user and waster of time. But it is minor league when compared with the web. Shopping is done on the Internet. Hours can be spent surfing the web. All of this is done alone. Even when others are around the participants are so focused they are still alone. Even though writing and communicating with others, the participant is still alone.
A person can now work at home. With the aid of a computer, e-mail, fax, and phone lines people can work at home and again lose the human contact of the workplace. The makers of most of today's games have designed them to be played alone on a sophisticated gadget.
In the last century if a person wanted to be with others, they went to the revival meetings (protracted meetings or the big meetings) at the local church. Just so they could be with others. Church was the only show in town. In the process people heard the gospel. A couple of generations ago it was not uncommon for 3-5 families to gather at someone’s home after church. A sumptuous meal would be shared. The adults would play board games, chat, and snooze while the children went to the barn to play. They gathered back together to eat the leftovers for supper. The guests returned to their homes to do their chores and then went back to church. Also in another era there were threshing rings. The host family was to provide the meal. All of the families on the ring helped as each farmer's grain was harvested. But we are talking about a lot of human contacts. That is so important.
I remember recently traveling to West Patrick Street in Frederick, Md. I stopped in front of the house where I spent most of my childhood and youth. I looked up and down the street and could still cite the names of the people who lived in the homes on both sides of the street for the whole block. Today we hardly know the names of our neighbors. In the old days, there were so many human contacts. So many people to care and share concerns. Today our circle of touches is extremely limited and gradually getting smaller.
These recent developments have brought along a new set of problems. Human beings were created to be social creatures who live within the context of community. We need others. Even the most independent of us needs regular and meaningful contacts with other people. But the extensive devastation caused by loneliness will only increase.
Churches may again become centers of human companionship as the culture takes us away from the personal touches. I believe churches that emerge from this decade with meaningful ministry will be churches that create a place where people can come and find friends.
Here are some possibilities:
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Is someone good at the art of baking bread without a bread maker? Have a bread baking night every other week where people can come together and spend time together and then take home a loaf or two of fresh baked bread. |
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Have everyone who chooses to put his or her name in a bowl. After an assigned date passes, everyone who put a name in can take one out. The two families go to each other’s home for a meal. |
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A number of the servant evangelism projects are designed to involve several people working together. |
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Have each small group have a monthly or at least a bi-monthly social get together to have fun and share in fellowship. |
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Arrange some day trips where people can spend time together. |
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Do a block party to invite the neighbors of the church to share with the people of the church. |
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Do the old-fashioned progressive dinner. Get the appetizer in one home, the salad in the next, etc. |
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Set up a booth at a local community fair or carnival. Have something for children to do at no cost such as face painting or macaroni art. . . . something simple and inexpensive, yet something that will bring people together and not cost a lot of money. |
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Get a group of people together to go to someone’s home and help with needed repairs or work. |
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In a rural area, have some people get together to cut wood and give the wood to the widows who are burning wood but aren’t able to cut it. |
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There could be things designed as intergenerational, or for children, or youth, or young adult, or older adult. Intentionally create a climate where people can come together and be friends. I believe an aggressive church needs to have one such event nearly every week for different groups of people. |
These are but a few of the possibilities. Does this sound like fun and games? Absolutely. Does this sound like something that will lead to spiritual depth? Not directly. But this I know: evangelism and spiritual maturity are best fostered within the context of a relationship with another human being. This encourages the fostering of human relationships, which addresses the drastic need of loneliness, which is rampant in our culture.
The worst loneliness of all is to be alone in a crowd of people—to go to church and be with a group of people and be alone.
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Read about Jim's seminars and books.
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June 30, 2000. Volume 3, Issue 9. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.