Do you feel connected?

Do you have relationships with a few other people? Real relationships…more than acquaintances. People who you can turn to in tough times and they’ll care for you. People who know you well enough to see you veering off track and step in to draw you back. People that you can call your people. If not you feel lonely and disconnected.

I ask this because I’m thinking about you, knowing that you need a few real friends. And I also ask because I care about the church, which I believe should be a place where you find a few real friends. If that doesn’t happen, either there is a problem with you or with the church.

I recently read Andy Stanley’s book “Creating Community.” I read it in a day. It tells the story and strategy of North Point Community Church, which states as their goal “to encourage all people to move into a small group.” And they are doing it. They observe that today’s church are filled with "crowded loneliness” and that “isolation breeds selfishness.” Their small group purpose is “To provided a predictable small-group environment where participants experience authentic community and spiritual growth.”

Most people won’t argue against wisdom like “Christian community is the final apologetic” (Francis Shaeffer) or “God creates in us a “human-shaped-void” that God himself will not fill” (John Ortberg). Most completely agree and honestly say, where can I find such a place. I suggest the church.

I agree with Larry Crabb who says, “the center of Christian Community is connecting with a few” (Connecting, xiii). So do you feel connected? Do you have a few people that will be there with you or for you or a few people that you will be there for? Are you connected to people that are journeying through life with you to laugh & celebrate and if necessary cry with you?