"It is not good for the man to be alone." Right from the beginning of the world, God declares the very not-goodness of a human in isolation. It was not enough for Adam to have animals to care for and land to cultivate. He was created in the image of a God who lives in community in the Trinity; he needed another human being--a helper and companion. And nothing has changed since.
You may think I'm about to talk about marriage, but I'm not--at least not specifically. Though the first human relationship at creation was a married couple, the not-goodness of man being alone does not merely speak to marriage. It speaks to a broader in-born need for community that runs throughout the Bible. And in a book that deals with living life wisely in the midst of toil and trouble, Ecclesiastes does not fail to mention the importance of living in community with others.
"Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, 'For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?' This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him--a threefold cord is not easily broken." (Eccl. 4:7-12)
In a world where there is so much futility and evil and death, we gain immeasurable riches by living our lives in community with others. Ecclesiastes gives us 5 things we gain by living in community:
- Community is a place for service. 'For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?' This also is vanity and an unhappy business. If I am merely working toward my own ends, for my own gain, I end up gaining nothing, and my toiling is a very unhappy business. When we live in community with others, we gain ample opportunities to serve, to work for the gain of others, to be last so that others might be first. And this brings joy and happiness to our work. I can enjoy the labour of making bread well enough, but the real joy in that labour comes in seeing others benefit from it as they enjoy the eating. What's more, even when the labour itself is hard and unpleasant, or seems to yield little fruit, there is a blessing in the simple grace of being in it with another, having someone to commiserate, to weep with you in the failure, to laugh with you over the futility.
- Community is a place for increased fruit. Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. One person working by himself can only do so much. As soon as another person joins him, the amount of work done more than doubles. If you have a group of people working together toward the same end, the potential for fruit grows exponentially. We have seen this here in Liberty Village, and it is true in any community. The Body of Christ is more fruitful when each member is working together with the others toward a common goal for the glory of God.
- Community is a place for help. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! When we are all on our own, and we fall into sin or error or difficult circumstances, we have no one to help us up. We need others around us who will pick us up when we fall, who will help carry our burdens and point us to the gospel. And we need to be help for others in their time of need, as well.
- Community is an place for comfort. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? The picture Ecclesiastes gives us is one of travellers sleeping outside on a cold night--they are warmer when they share body heat than when each sleeps by himself. And it is the same in this cold, dark world. Where life is full of feelings of futility, intense trials and mundane ones, weariness and uncertainty, we desperately need the warmth of community to provide comfort for the weary and hope for the downcast.
- Community is a place for protection. And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him — a threefold cord is not easily broken. Life is not like the movies, where one guy routinely beats down 20 attackers in his own strength. Left to ourselves, one attacker can be enough to destroy us. But there is safety in numbers. In a world where wisdom is not always clear, where sin trips us up, where the church gets persecuted and Satan is always on the prowl, we do not do well to try and fight alone. We need the protection of the community, those who will stand with us on the day of battle, and still be standing with us when it is all over.
Are you trying to live your life on your own, serving your own ends, working by yourself, pulling yourself up, seeking comfort through your own means, trying to fight multiple attackers off by yourself? It is not good for a human to be alone! Even where living in community is hard, where it requires confession and forgiveness, when it means we have to give up some of our preferences to serve others, where we can't live on our own timetable, the benefits far outweigh the risks! God has made us for community, so let us be intentional about living in it.
