Have you ever played the party game “The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?” It’s a game primarily for movie buffs based on the six degrees of separation (the idea that each person on the planet is just six or fewer social connections away from anyone else). In the game you name any actor or actress and your opponent tries to link them to actor Kevin Bacon in the shortest number of movie connections. For example, Elvis Presley was in “Change of Habit” with Edward Asner and Edward Asner was in “JFK” with Kevin Bacon! (Ok, I cheated on that one.) There’s even a video on youtube of Kevin Bacon playing the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with Kevin Bacon.
The point is that we’re all connected. Today we are more connected than ever through technology and social media. 67% of the people on the planet use Mobile Devices. Even the Yanomami natives in the middle of the jungles of Venezuela have cell phones. 57% of the world population use the internet. 45% actively engage on social media. Recent studies claim that, due to the effects of social media, the 6 degrees of separation between us all are now less than 3.5.
The world has never been more connected than it is today. Why then are we the most lonely people in history?
Type “loneliness” into your google search bar and click on the news tab. I did that this week and Google came back with over 6 million news articles on loneliness, 6 million. Article after article about the incredible state of loneliness in our culture today.
“Millennials Are the Loneliest Generation.”
“Senior Citizens Struggle With Suicide As Loneliness And Isolation Set In!”
“There’s A Loneliness Crisis On College Campuses”
“Why Are Thirtysomethings Lonely? Because Society Doesn’t Value Friendship!”
“Researchers Are Working On A Pill For Loneliness, As Studies Suggest The Condition Is Worse Than Obesity”
And the list goes on and on and on.
In his book “Bowling Alone,” Robert Putnam asserts that more people than ever are bowling but they are bowling alone. The social fabric of our culture is unraveling and people are no longer engaging in their communities. There are a myriad of reasons why we’re lonely, too many to discuss here, and even more attempts at finding a solution. The fact is that the world is broken, communities are broken, families are broken, and people are broken. Sin separates us from each other and from God! That’s why the Gospel is such Great News! Jesus, through His death, burial, and resurrection, has made a way for us to be reconciled to God. But that isn’t all, He’s also made a way for us to be reconciled with one another. The Gospel brings us together, it unites us into one family. We aren’t just saved out of something but into something. We’re saved into a family and when all the individual members of the family are working together, loving one another, serving one another, in fellowship with one another, etc. there should never be room for loneliness.
Interestingly, in an article entitled “What’s so Darned Special about Church Friends?” Robert Putnam also observed that those who have close relationships with “church friends” resulting from “involvement in small groups” and “discussion of religion with friends and family” are happier, less selfish, and more concerned for the well-being of others. Putnam’s conclusion: “Church friends produce happier, nicer people!” If that’s what church friends produce just imagine what a church family can do!