Lovewell: A Theology - Day 5

Genesis 2:18
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”

God never wanted us to be alone. As stated before, one of his greatest values is that of community. So much is this a value of God’s that God lives in a community and has forever. We call this community the Godhead, or the community of God. 

When God created the world, there was an understanding that “it is not good for man to be alone. . .” Therefore, God was able to make a suitable helpmeet (someone who completes the man, is equal to, and is not in any way subservient by way of gender.) In other words, God created a community for humans from the very beginning. 

We were not meant to be isolated beings. The poet John Donne wrote: “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” (MEDITATION XVII
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions)

These words were written so that we could be reminded that there is nothing more difficult than being alone. I was sitting with a 64 year-old gentleman today, and he reminded me that even at 64, he just wants to belong. He was honest and forthright with that statement. He wasn’t ashamed to admit his need for others. 

We do damage to the image of God in our lives when we think there is an rugged individualism that must be kept and it is somehow God’s ideal for humanity. It is not ideal, in fact, it is the opposite. God is a God of relationships, seen in the trinity, and therefore, to be isolated is to deny what the image of God looks like in us. If God is a God of community, then we should be in a community; contributing, serving, leading and growing. 

The image of God is not simply how we look, or even how we act, it is our ability to connect with other people. Our humanity exists in the context of relationships. Therefore, being in community is actually what makes us more human, more holy, and more within the image of God. Without these connections, we do damage to what God wants us to be and how we are to live, laugh, love and linger with one another. 

1. What are the best relationships that you have? 
2. How can you grow more relationships that are meaningful to you and to others? 
3. How important is time in relationships? 
4. Where do you give your time when it comes to relationships? 
5. How can you cultivate relationships that are not burdensome on you, but bring you joy? 
6. What do you do with toxic relationships in your life?