Messy Relationships, Blog 1: We Are Created for Community

COVID proved all those personality tests that I have taken over the years absolutely wrong. I am an extrovert not an introvert. So much for the science of personality testing, I need to be around people. We were created for relationship, just look at the human anatomy. We have ears, eyes, and vocal cords. We were designed to engage and communicate with others. COVID has isolated people. A barrel of social ills have swept through our communities because of unending seclusion.

Aloneness ... even that word sounds lonely. Inside isolation and aloneness we began to die. The Greeks have a word for death, “thanatos,” which means “to separate.” This is why death is so painful. We become separated and alone. Death was never God’s idea nor is isolation. Isolation has never been a prescribed option by our Creator. He knows personally the benefits of community. Since community is how God has existed in eternity past as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The triune God continues to exist inside relationship. It is not surprising that we as image bearers of Him, find purpose, meaning, and joy surrounded by relationship.

The starting line of 2021 is here and 2020 is truly hindsight. This is why we have embarked on this journey called “Live Messy.” We need people. We need friends. We need each other because we want to choose to live and not die this year. Jump into the mess with us. Get with people. Make a new friend. Help change another person's life. "Live Messy" is not just a theme but also study. Get in a small group as we embark on the journey of studying the book “Relationships, A Mess Worth Making”. Our goal through the study is to learn how to navigate relationships well (by listening and loving well), so we aren’t tempted to rush back into our cave of aloneness when “bumped” by each other.

I look forward to seeing you along the road of this journey.

Cheering you on.

Pastor Todd