Where Do I Belong?

Have you ever been somewhere and not known anybody? My wife asked me to tag along to one of her work friends’ weddings. I didn’t know a soul, and she just bought a new camera and was taking oodles of pictures of the happy couple, while I just sat at my table alone. I tried striking up conversation with people around the table, but they were more interested in talking with each other than getting to know “Jessica’s husband.” There are a few things that can suck the life out of you, and feeling like you don’t fit in is definitely one of them.

Gen 2:18a The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”

Now this isn’t just in the Bible, it’s a very important “first”. This is the first thing that God says is wrong with His creation. It’s not good for the man to be alone. Adam was created first, and he was by himself, and it wasn’t good, so God gave him someone to spend his life with. God said “It is not good for the man to be alone” way back then, and things haven’t changed. It still is not good for us to be alone.

Loneliness has different faces: You can be in a group full of people you don’t know, or at home by yourself, you can be alone because no one knows how tough your life is, or you can be alone because no one can relate to your good looks. No matter what it is, it isn’t good. So what do we do if we are lonely? Maybe a better question is “how do we help people who feel alone?”

First off, I don’t think there is any “quick cure” to this problem, and I don’t want to sound like I can make everything and solve this problem right now, but I do want to offer you my advice:

Jesus didn’t avoid these lonely people, the outcasts, the misfits, and we shouldn’t avoid these people either! Being a Christian means being part of the answer to the question, “Where do I belong?” I know not all Christians have it down, but we aim to be people who accept people for who they are and love them just like Jesus loved them. The Church is God’s answer for the loneliness problem, and that is why we are all here. The Church promises a place for everyone to belong, no matter who we are or what we’ve done. In the same way, camp is a place to belong, a place to figure things out and a place to serve. We’re here because we’ve found some good news and want to share it! This is our camp, our place to belong and anyone is welcome. Through this, we bring glory to God and honor Him.