Page 66 - Digital Church in a Lonely World

A PERSONAL NO TE T O MY OWN

GENERA TION

I’m a Millennial. I can attest that our generation greatly values community. This doesn’t mean we are
good at achieving it. Ironically, we are statistically much poorer at doing this than previous generations.

In some ways, we are the guinea pigs of the first digital civilization. We have reaped the enormous
benefits of online tools, but we have also suffered the downside of social media, information overload
and an “always-on” work life.

We are wrestling with a clash of two competing ideals in our worldview. Yes, we want community. We
long for rich and meaningful friendships. But we are also ensnared by consumerism, a transactional
approach to life that puts our individual needs, desires and pleasure at the center of our lives.

The desire for community is a yearning for a value that is largely unfulfilled. Instead, there is an ache of
loneliness and isolation. Technology has not solved this. Arguably, it has contributed to the problem.

This creates an interesting tension for us. On the one hand, we desire community and friendship. On
the other hand, the path we have chosen to take us there has left us lonely, divided and disconnected. To
change this, we must simultaneously celebrate our yearning for community, while confronting the faulty
playbook we are operating from.

Genuine community is created, not stumbled upon

We want community—great! However, the way we think it happens is flawed and dysfunctional. It
has broken the relational fabric of our generation. We are lonelier and more isolated than previous
generations. The way out will require us to make some real-life changes. The kind of community we
are searching for is harder, more costly and more time-intensive than we realize—and there are no
shortcuts. It is also so much more beautiful, enriching and fulfilling than we could imagine. If we truly
want our local church to be a life-giving spiritual community, we must entangle ourselves with the
people around us.

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