The Future is Local

The Problem

If you haven’t read Jonathan Haidt’s excellent book, The Anxious Generation, I highly recommend it. I reviewed it last year, here. This book and the research behind it have helped lead the charge to make some significant changes in society to help with the growing mental health crisis in our world. The basic summary is we find widespread anxiety, loneliness and societal fragmentation, and the author looks at what contributed to this. To quote the book, “Despite being the most ‘connected’ generation in history, we are deeply isolated.”

We’re learning that not all connections are the same. A Zoom class is not the same as in-person learning. A “friend” on social media will interact with you in a way they would never treat a stranger to their face. Even physiologically, we don’t respond the same way to a screen as we do to a real person. Now we’re being handed imitation people in the form of Avatars, AI assistants and humanoid robots to fill the gaps that exist in society between actual relationships. People in your life are being replaced and it is often our own choice to move from actual to virtual.

We were created for genuine relationships and fellowship, but sin entered the world at the Fall, and relational brokenness lives on, expanding along whatever lines are available. Distance is dangerous. The solution isn’t found in disengaging from the digital realm, but in re-engaging locally and deeply. The future health for society and especially for followers of Christ is local. This is a solution a church, guided by the teachings of Jesus, should be well equipped to provide.

The Local Church: God’s Blueprint for Embodied Community

The Church is a local, visible, autonomous congregation of baptized believers. It’s not a global brand or an online platform; it is a specific assembly in a specific place. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” A physical assembly of believers facilitates worship, teaching and fellowship. This cannot be fully done online. This spurring on of one another to love and good works is best done face to face.

We are called to be participants in the lives of one another, not spectators. Passive consumption of religious content, such as watching sermons online or reading books can build our knowledge base, but doesn’t give us the opportunity to sharpen one another, as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). The one another passages, when practiced, provide the antidote for many modern ailments.

• Mutual Love and Forgiveness – The antidote to online outrage and cancel culture. Galatians 6:2 – “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Colossians 3:12-14 – “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony”
• Encouragement and Service – The antidote to digital comparison and isolation. Romans 12:10 – “Love one another with genuine affection and take delight in honoring one another.” 1. Peter 4:10 – “Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God.” Not possible if we don’t know our neighbors’ needs through deep relationships.
• Accountability and Truth – The antidote to personal hidden sin and deepfake reality. James 5:16 – “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” Ephesians 4:25 – “Stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for all of us are part of the same body.” This requires a trusted neighbor.

Practical, lived-out, local community

Don’t be consumed with distant issues, which will be ever more unverifiable and unchangeable by you as an individual. It’s easy to get upset by something happening around the world, or what you’ve been told about it, but it is difficult to bring about positive change in those situations, and it is often impossible to truly understand what is going on.

Instead, focus on local ministry with the real people around you. This is the principle of a sphere of influence. We have a local, tangible connection to the people in our church, on our street or in our workplace. Those are real people, struggling with real issues, and we are right there, close enough to provide genuine assistance.

Where do you start?

• If you’ve lived your recent life with digital addiction, relational superficiality or riding the emotional waves of global drama, the best place to start is with repentance, a turning away and purposing to live differently in the future.
• Commit to a local church. Find one that teaches God’s Word and attempts to practice Christ’ teachings and join it. Then, make it a priority to get involved.
• Join a small group for deeper interaction. Make friends and invite them into your life. Gather together regularly. Plan parties, game nights and nature outings. Turn off virtual reality and live in the here and now with real people.
• Find a place to serve and look for real, tangible needs around you that you can personally help with. Don’t complain about what is going on across the world. Find out what is going on next door and reach out to help.

The deep, lasting joy and peace that the anxious generation seeks is found not in endless scrolling, but in the sacrificial, gritty, and glorious fellowship of the local church. The greatest work you will ever do for the Kingdom is the work you do today, with the people right in front of you. The future is local. That’s where real life will be found. In your home, in your church and in your community. God’s people should be prepared to lead the way, offering the world the hope of the Gospel and the beauty of life lived in Christian community with other frail creatures of dust.