Not too long ago, major Health Insurance provider Cigna completed a survey of more than twenty thousand adults in the United States, and the results were startling. A portion of the data broke down feelings of isolation and loneliness across different generations and age groups. Now before I share the results, take a guess – which age group do you think reported the highest levels of loneliness and isolation? I would have expected the oldest generations among us – after all, they are most likely to live alone. However, the results were the exact opposite! The study indicated that older generations experience the greatest sense of connection and well-being, while each subsequent generation felt increasingly lonely and isolated. A rich sense of community is getting increasingly lost!

At the same time, you likely don’t need me to tell you culture is growing increasingly fractured, divided, and tribal, and it doesn’t feel right.

Just try bringing up politics, or any hot topic issue, in a large group of people. Prepare for an earful!

Thankfully, the Lord offers us a better path forward. In my book, Connected to Christ: Overcoming Isolation through Community, I make the case that the concept of community is wired into God’s vision for his people from the very beginning (see Genesis 2:18!) And today, God’s hope for His people is to be the most radically hospitable, inviting, and unified entity on earth.

After all, regardless of our backgrounds, personal histories, opinions, even political beliefs, we share something incredibly powerful and unifying – each of us has been made to be recipients of God’s grace in Christ Jesus!

The book makes a great personal or small group Bible study, as it leads to our Savior, who makes a space and a place at the table for us! You can find it at cph.org or amazon.com. Enjoy!

You can get a copy of the book at books.cph.org or by searching amazon.com.