Making Room for People to Belong
About this talk
Scripture: Matthew 15v21-28
It’s part of human nature to want to belong; we all want to fit in. By definition, society is made up of people who connect - who fit in with one another - that’s what makes up a society; the sense that we ‘belong’ to one another; the sense of a common identity.
This desire to belong is Biblical. When God created human beings, first he made Adam who was a perfect example of humanity: He was healthy, he was sinless, and he had unbroken fellowship with God. And yet God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen 2v18) … which led to the creation of woman. That happened while there was no sin in the world; Adam wasn’t lacking a relationship with God; everything was perfect and sinless in the world and his relationship with God was perfect when God said, “It is not good for man to be alone”.
Without human relationships, we get lonely. God is looking to have a relationship with every one of us, and without a relationship with God there will always be something missing in your life, but our relationship with God doesn’t mean we don’t need good human relationships too!
This desire to belong is why in some recent surveys done in the UK asking about the challenges people faced, the biggest issue identified was “Loneliness”. So what is God’s cure for loneliness? Psalm 68v6, “God sets the lonely in families.” Family is important; it’s part of God’s plan for us ... and the church is God’s family; his household. The church is intended to be a community, a family, where lonely people can find a place to belong. So why are lonely people not flocking to churches to find family and a place to belong? Could it be because most people don’t think of church as a place where they could belong? Could it be that people think they will feel excluded and judged?
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