The devil loves to see people isolated because it is directly opposed to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It means his original temptation to Eve to be “like God” is still working. The devil seeks to pull apart, to separate, to convince us that autonomy is the secret to flourishing. In reality, it simply confines us in a prison of self-definement that, rather ironically, we build ourselves. We’re miserable because we can’t imagine what true intimacy, deep connection, and real friendship are like anymore. What are we to do?  

Individualism is taking a toll on Americans. American culture has confined us to our solitary bubbles through the emphasis on individualism, self-sufficiency, and, in more recent years, rampant social media use. We’re all imprisoned in tiny solitary confinement bubbles that can wreak havoc on our relationships and our health. There’s a reason solitary confinement is a punishment. Author Janice Shaw Crouse writes in her article “The Loneliness of American Society,”

The secular humanist view that human existence is disconnected from any higher power and from responsibility for anyone other than ourselves gives a certain freedom to make one’s own rules, but there is a price to pay for this freedom. Gone is human dignity. Gone is mankind’s special connection to the Author of beauty, truth, or goodness. Ultimately, we are “free,” but autonomy is just another way of being alone.

The devil loves this. He loves to see people isolated from one another because someone alone is always weaker than people together. This is especially true for Christians. He loves to see people isolated because it is directly opposed to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It means his original temptation to Eve to be “like God” is still working. The devil seeks to pull apart, to separate, to convince us that autonomy is the secret to flourishing. In reality, it simply confines us in a prison of self-definement that, rather ironically, we build ourselves. We’re miserable because we can’t imagine what true intimacy, deep connection, and real friendship are like anymore. What are we to do?

The Holy Spirit Creates Something Different

The gospel creates a place of companionship, hospitality, and belonging. The gospel of Christ is inherently communal because it brings sinners from all over the world into a new humanity, making them citizens of a new kingdom. The gospel brings people together into a community that is connected by so much more than things like common interest, nationality, or political ideology. The head of the church is Christ; the body of Christ is his church, and all members are connected to him and to one another(Eph. 5:23). This can be understood in two aspects: companionship with Christ and companionship with others.

Companionship with God

The Son of God brings God and human together through his very own body. He was forsaken so that his people would not be forsaken (Matt. 27:46). In the aloneness of Christ on the cross, what was estranged became united. Our soul’s longing to be re-connected in the embrace of God can be satisfied in the temple of Jesus’ body (Jn. 2:20-22). When God saves you, he brings you into intimacy with himself, participants through union with Christ in fellowship with the divine (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:1-17; Ps. 139).

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