Our culture has been telling us for years that independence is where it’s at. Our culture says lean into work, make a lot of money, then you won’t need anybody and you can be independent. Then you’ll be happy. So most Americans are so busy working they have little to no time for relationships, sometimes even with their own family. Statistics show that over the last one hundred years Americans have become less involved in clubs, less involved in church, less involved in groups, less involved in community projects, etc. We’ve become so obsessed with achieving the American dream, that we’ve squeezed out any time margin that could be invested in relationships. And the consequences have been catastrophic. More people than ever before claim to be depressed and the suicide rate continues to climb.
Well people are starting to get wise. Even non-Christian literature is now being written warning us that independence is NOT where it’s at! For example, Robert D. Putnam wrote a book called Bowling Alone which focuses on the negative consequences of the breakdown of community in America. Here are some of his findings:
- “A long-term study in California found that people with the fewest social ties have the highest risk of dying from heart disease, circulatory problems, and cancer…”
- He writes “Over the last twenty years more then a dozen large studies of these kinds in the United States, Scandinavia, and Japan have shown that people who are are socially disconnected are between two and five times more likely to die from all causes, compared with matched individuals who have close ties with family, friends, and the community.”
- In other words – when you don’t have close relationship ties with other people, it literally cuts YEARS off your life!!!
Another non-Christian study was done by Psychiatrist Robert Waldinger who’s the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. This was one of the longest and most complete studies of adult life ever conducted. Here’s what they found:
- They came away with one major finding: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier.
- Society places a lot of emphasis on wealth and “leaning in” to our work, Waldinger said. “But over and over, over these 75 years, our study has shown that the people who fared the best were the people who leaned in to relationships, with family, with friends, with community.”
Now what a shame they had to spend 75 years and no doubt a ton of money, just to learn something the Bible has been saying for thousands of years – that life is better together! Take a look! We read in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” We find a similar thought in Genesis 2:18 where God says of Adam in the Garden of Eden, “It is not good for the man to be alone…” In other words, all throughout the Bible God says: LIFE IS BETTER TOGETHER!
At New Day we help people do life together through our groups ministry. Your next opportunity to sign up for groups is this Sunday January 17, 2016 at 6pm at newdaychurch.cc/groups. Groups will fill up fast so mark it on your calendars now!