My husband and I have a problem. We love spending time with people, but our best friends live an hour away. Now, an hour isn’t that far, but it makes frequent, long hangout times hard to coordinate—especially now that we all have kids. Because quality time is important to us, we make a point to get together, eat dinner, and let the kids run wild.
This brings us to a second problem. If it’s been too long since we’ve hung out, our time together quickly moves from dinner into a 12 a.m. deep-seated chat. This is wonderful, but we aren’t twenty anymore. Fellowship past midnight is not a regular habit. However, it feeds our hearts and desire for quality time, and we all know we can’t wait four months for another dinner together.
Hardwired for Connection
This craving for fellowship is part of humanity's core. We were not designed to function in isolation. It was never the plan to live independently from others. We were created to be better together.
The concept of "better together" begins in the Garden of Eden. When God created the universe, He looked at everything He made and declared it was good. The first "not-good" thing in Eden was not caused by sin; it was the result of being alone.
“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.’ The Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found corresponding to him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.” — Genesis 2:18-22
Humans are made in the image of God. God is not simply one supernatural being. Rather, He is three persons in one: Father, Spirit, and Son. God Himself is in constant community and fellowship. As image-bearers of God, we are created to reflect the nature of God. This means we are designed to be part of a community.
The Impact of the Fall
We no longer live in the Garden of Eden because sin has broken relationships and community. Author Donald Miller says this:
“Jesus does not want us floating through space or sitting in front of our televisions; Jesus wants us interacting, eating together, laughing together, praying together. Loneliness is something that came with the fall.”
God is so gracious. Humanity is separated from God because of sin. We constantly deal with broken, abused, and misconstructed relationships. But God. God does not desire for us to live broken, so He sent His Son to first mend our relationship with Him. In doing so, we are able to be restored to the community Eden intended with other believers.
Restored Through Christ
Ephesians 2:13, 16-21 says:
“But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ… He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.”
We are not far out from living in a time of forced isolation. Family gatherings and community events were canceled. Jobs were lost, furloughed, or moved remote. Church became impersonal screen time. In our lifetime, we have seen depression and anxiety skyrocket and remain high, even though isolation requirements are no more.
Christ paid the ultimate price by sacrificing Himself on the cross so that we can have a restored relationship with God. He did this so that we can have fellowship with the Son, help from the Spirit, and access to the Father. If you have believed in your heart that Jesus died and rose again to pay the penalty for your sin, have confessed with your mouth that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness, and have asked Jesus to become Lord of your life, then you now have community with God.
Built Together for His Glory
Jesus didn’t die so that we could only have a restored relationship with God; it was also so that we could have a restored relationship with other people. All believers are a part of God’s family and are called to community with one another. In Christ, believers are being built together for the glory and dwelling of the Spirit.
We should be growing in Christ-centered community to encourage each other to grow in faith, so that God may be glorified in our lives. We should do this because we have hope that one day we will live in perfect, unmarred, eternal fellowship with God. How encouraging it is to receive even a small taste of that on earth within our communities and our local and global church.
Reflection: Why We Are Better Together
We are better together because we serve a relational God with a heart for community. He created mankind in His image and hardwired us for connection; yet, we know that because of sin, our relationships and communities are often broken.
But we have hope. Christ shed His blood on the cross to restore us to God, and because of that sacrifice, we are now able to have mended relationships with one another. While we look forward to the day we will be fully restored in perfect harmony with God in heaven, we are called, here and now, to live and work together as one unified body with fellow believers.
