Our society has been described as a “swipe-right” culture – a reference drawn from a popular dating app where a quick swipe right approves a potential date. And the moment we are no longer interested in that relationship, job, or community, we move on. We promote ourselves as people who are free and autonomous and yet statistics reveal that in spite of our always-connected culture we are lonelier than any time in human history.
Yet inside of us there is a deep longing to belong. We believe this longing is part of the way God created us – to live in community with Himself and with other people. And rather than deny it or disguise it or ignore it, we embrace belonging as one of our deepest needs.
More than 300 years ago, John Donne penned, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” And 2000 years ago, Paul reminded us that we are one body with many members (1 Cor 12:12).
As Jesus followers, we embrace our need to belong because true belonging is being simultaneously fully known, fully loved, and fully accepted. Belonging provides security and protection and confidence. But belonging is difficult. It does not happen easily and quickly. It requires time, sacrifice, and commitment.
This January at City Church we dive deeply into what it means to belong: to God, to ourselves, and to each other. Discover the refuge that belonging provides when we are established and rooted in how God created us to be.