One thing that seems to have had a lasting effect from the 2020 COVID lockdowns is the isolation of people. Curbside pick-up, home deliveries of goods, Zoom meetings, and work-from-home is here to stay for most people. If we don’t want to interact with people on any given day at any time, we pretty much have the option to still live our normal lives and not have to interact with anyone. According to Statista, there was a significant increase in the average time U.S. users spent on social media in 2020. When things started to open back up, it was like we only knew how to relate to people in the comments section or through tweets and the effect has been an increase in hostility, crime, and vitriol. It’s almost as if we don’t know how to live in community anymore.

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

“Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.” (Galatians 6:2-3)

“Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)

We’ve gotten used to being in our homes and away from people. When the modus operandi for the last two years has been to “socially distance” we’ve started to retreat inward. When was the last time you spent time with your neighbor? Do you feel like you can just walk next door or down the street and knock on someone’s door and see how they’re doing? With the media always pitting people against each other, we have become more and and more suspicious and even afraid of others. Our calling as Christians is to live in community with one another and to love our neighbors just as we love ourselves. Don’t let the “new normal” of the last two years negate the teaching of Jesus for the last two thousand.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.