An Epidemic of Loneliness

This week the United States’ Surgeon General published an advisory on social connection, declaring a nationwide emergency that we are living through an “epidemic of loneliness.” Though the presence of lonely feelings are not new in the modern day, loneliness has been on the rise in our culture for decades and is plaguing our very lives.

I would go as far as to guess that you are (or have been) lonely; in a recent Harvard survey of American adults, 36% of respondents reported serious loneliness, and this included 61% of young adults.

Data points to the stark reality that most of us will experience loneliness in our lifetime and that our social connectedness is a determinant of our overall quality of life.

The Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, writes to his readers that “social connection is a fundamental human need, as essential to survival as food, water, and shelter.” In a subsequent interview with CNN, Murthy stated that loneliness often sends signals to our bodies, much like thirst and hunger, when we need something for survival. In this case, our needed element for quality living is community. 

How, then, does Murthy suggest we find this?

What struck me was his #1 action step: the federal official encourages lonely individuals to find strong social infrastructure within communal religious groups and volunteer organizations. 

Created for Community

The Bible itself is explicit in its call to community.

At its inception, humanity was created by a triune God, who noted that “it is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18), and throughout the pages to follow there is ample evidence to suggest that we were created to do life with others.

As scientific data suggests a lifestyle that is congruent with biblical principles, those who identify with the church family positively find themselves within the three vital components of social connection that Murthy identifies: structure, function, and quality. 

These components are not exactly unique to our day, as the authors of the New Testament set up scaffolding for such infrastructure within the early church, but we have much to glean from the wisdom of these texts.

• The author of Hebrews encouraged his readers to not neglect “gathering together” (Hebrews 10:25), teaching that the structure of frequent gatherings with numerous people is vital to the health of the body.
• Paul wrote to the Thessalonians that the church family is to “encourage the fainthearted” (1 Thessalonians 5:14) and often wrote of the function of the church regarding humble and willing service to others.
• The Scriptures clearly identify how the faith community is built to provide social support, lending the church to being a source of quality relationships to those who lean in to them.

I could share endless accounts of how the Bible and the church line up with the findings in Murthy’s advisory, but practically, how can our church help your loneliness? 

How Can Our Church Help Your Loneliness?

Belonging to a church means that you are ushered into a family.

At The Church at Channelside, we hold in high value the biblical command to show hospitality, both often and radically. We prioritize mimicking Christ’s model of walking through life closely with others who may not live, look, or act like us by opening up our homes and lives to the stranger, because when strangers become neighbors, the barrier of loneliness is shattered. This practice plays out on Sunday morning gatherings, but often overflows into the whole week: we gather for weekly community groups where lives are shared and we actively go against the culture’s grain of isolation and selfish tendencies by daily serving each other in all seasons of life.

Our service even goes beyond ourselves, and Murthy’s research agrees that volunteering commitments mitigate the loneliness of our day.

The church has historically been a breeding ground for society’s most helpful resources (think hospitals and devastation aid organizations), but even in their individual contexts, the local church is an avenue for serving and meeting the needs of their community.

Namely, our church regularly partners with organizations and ministries that are catered toward the unique needs of our city, such as Tampa’s Port ecosystem, the foster care crisis, and even beautification of the city. Members and attendants of The Church at Channelside regularly link arms with each other to submit to the biblical teachings of humility and service, and it is this posture–one of second-place–that permeates our very lives by growing our empathy and compassion and therefore minimizing feelings of loneliness.

If these efforts sound great on paper but hard to put into practice, I want you to know that we get it!

Coming to church, even for a Sunday service, and sharing your life with strangers is intimidating and can be uncomfortable at first! Just as we are for the flourishing of our church, we are committed to responding to the crisis of loneliness in our culture and believe that collective efficacy can only be executed when the first steps are taken. We want to take them with you, as a family!

A great first step would be joining us on a Sunday and seeing what we’re all about. Plan your visit below, and we’d be happy to reach out and welcome you into our community!