Proverbs 18:1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment.
King Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived except Jesus, declared that people who isolate themselves rage against wise judgment. I’ve known that principle for years so even as introvert who craves alone time, I try to make sure I live in community with people who can pour into me and that I can pour into as well.
This verse really came home to me yesterday (November 28th as I’m writing this) as Ashley and I saw a tragedy in our neighborhood. We had a neighbor kill his two children and then take his own life. We were shocked. They seemed like such a nice family. I didn’t really know them that well, but I would have never thought that would have happened in that family in a million years.
I had another neighbor ask me about the situation last night as we walked our dog. He wanted to know what would cause someone to do that. I didn’t have an explanation other than mental health issues or the devil, but the one thing I did say is, “This is why we all need community. We need people we can be real with when we are struggling. We need people who can lovingly speak into our lives and tell us if we are getting off track.”
When we live in isolation, we rage against wise judgment. Why do so many of us live in isolation then?
This topic is worthy of a 1,000 page book and I’m only writing a short blog, but here are some observations from scripture.
Sometimes we’re just the dumb. That’s offensive I know, so let me explain. Think about the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:12-14. Jesus never explained why one sheep separated from the 99. He just said the shepherd rejoiced when He found the lost sheep.
Shepherds will tell you sheep aren’t the smartest of animals. That’s why the Bible often compares people to sheep. We just aren’t all that smart without God and sometimes we aren’t all that smart with God because we aren’t hearing what He’s saying. This is how we can get lost and not realize it. Think about what the shepherd did when he found the lost sheep. He brought him back into community. We all need good friends who will who can watch our blind spots and speak into our lives when we start to get lost. We need each other and we’re dumb if we think we don’t.
Offense! We need community, but the challenge of living in community is we are all a little messy, even the best of us. It’s easy to get offended and withdraw and come up with 100 rationalizations for why this is ok, except for the fact that it violates scripture. Satan loves to use how we were wrong to divide us from the rest of the pack. He’s a wolf and when he can separate the sheep from the rest of flock we are meat for his table.
We think all we need is us and God. Not true! We are commanded as Christians to gather and worship together. Look at Hebrews 10:24-25:
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
One of the biggest benefits of being around people is they can stir us up to good works! Being around great people can just make us better! My friend, Craig, prays for the sick everywhere he goes. I don’t, but when I get around him that starts to rub off on me without me realizing it! I get stirred. My friend Max is probably the best dad I know. When I talk to him, I want to to be a better dad to my two boys. Both of them have a tremendous impact on me!
Some will say, “But I stir myself up to do good works. I don’t need people.” My response to that is, I’m sure you do stir yourself. Keep stirring, but let some others stir you too! That’s how you maximize the grace of God in your life!
The last explanation I’ll give is one of the major tactics of the devil is to divide and conquer. Look at Acts 20:
29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.
Satan sent in these savage wolves to divide the flock. They began to speak doctrinal error and taught perversion so they could draw away disciples of Jesus to themselves. Satan wars against the body of Christ! He hates it when we unite because we are better together. This is why he’ll do anything he can to divide us.
I want to close by encouraging you to find community. Part of that is coming to church, but it goes deeper than that because you can sit in a room full of hundreds of people on Sunday morning and not really get to know anyone or get to be known. I’d encourage everyone that attends Grace Life to get involved in a Life Group or serve on a ministry team. A big part of why we do Life Groups and ministry teams is to get people connected. We want people to get to know others and make friends so they have people they know on a deeper level. This is what we all crave deep down (even us introverts). It’s also where are safety is because we all go through stuff in life where we need someone to talk to.
I hope this article both encouraged and challenged you! If you’d like to learn more about the power of community, check out this message I taught at Grace Life Church.
