After first outlining how from the beginning of this world the two concepts play an important role (1 and 2), this article describes that the notion of “community” is anchored deeply in the order of creation and its Creator (3). At the end an attempt is made to interpret the findings for the present situation and to depict the basis of our existence in a number of concepts (4).

1. The Loneliness of Persons from the Bible⤒🔗

The first solitary figure in the Bible is also the first human being. The circumstances were ideal — and yet they were not. Solitude made the first man to feel incomplete.

God also noticed that the crown of his creation could not cope by himself and he said: “It is not good that Adam should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him.”

For Adam, it was love at first sight. Finally he met someone of his own flesh and blood, with whom he could only now communicate. Also at that time animals said little in return, and God was not always walking in the garden. The first human word represents the relief that his loneliness has come to an end.

This very first beginning of human history is very familiar. It leads us directly into the subject: “It is not good that man should be alone.”

This conclusion of God is a creation reality, and not a consequence of sin. God’s solution is Eve, of whom he says, “It is good.” However, this relationship is torpedoed by the Fall into sin.

Sin causes loneliness still to occur in all kinds of relationships. The separation makes it even more distressing than it already was for Adam; even unbearable at times.

Job, in addition to all the disasters he faced, is also hit by loneliness. Imagine: you wife is leaving you, while you have lost all your children and while you are morally bankrupt and physically a wreck. He himself describes how painful it is that people and family, who used to greet him with reverence, now loathe him because his breath is accompanied with a stench (Job 19:17).

Fortunately, he has friends who have the courage to sit there and to keep their mouths shut.

It takes courage to keep your mouth shut and thus to share together.

Unfortunately, they lost that courage and turned against him because of their own model of explanation.

Thus, Job’s loneliness was compounded. It drove him to call his God to account.

 

And then there is David. His friends also drop him like a brick. The community does not want him anymore. But what is even worse, God is gone. He is not even around anymore. Lord why have you left me? And so he felt something of the hellish misery that Jesus experienced. Only — God had not really left David and he was with Jesus. None of us can feel what it is like to be without God. David has a reason for crying out in panic:

“Do not cast me away from you. Do not remove me from your presence.”

A total absence of God: that is hell.

Jesus is the One who truly experienced life without God, so that we would never have to experience it.

In conclusion:

Loneliness is directly opposed to God’s intention. It is a result of the rupture that occurred when man put himself on the side of Satan.

2. Social Support

God himself does not leave Adam and Eve in their isolation. Regardless of their rebellion he goes to visit them anyway. And while they try to hide themselves in the bushes he broke open their world. God does not remotely arrange the mother of all promises but he shows a personal involvement. A dignitary still does the same when a disaster has occurred. Simply the provision of social support, of being there for the other person(s) is often the best they can do. God, as the Almighty, can truly provide the ultimate solutions. He can provide support in such a way that life is good again.

Job was someone who experienced that. For him there was again a woman who embraced him, and business partners who no longer avoided him. In the meeting room everyone was happy again when he was present. Job could show off his daughters again. Socially, he functioned fully again. When people are doing well, there is always a total inclusion in social life.

David praises the Lord in the circle of his brothers. This praise to God also comes out personally, yet in the psalms it is striking that it often speaks of going up again with God’s people, of singing and praising with all of them. Often there is an appeal:

Rejoice in the LORD, all you righteous.

This is not the call of a loner, but an appeal generated by someone who feels at home in the community of believers.

Elijah had lost his zeal and confidence, even though outwardly he had everything going for him. The people have just made their choice for Yahweh again. Many of his hated colleagues, the prophets of Baal, have been killed and it started to rain once more.

And yet Elijah wants to die, so startled is he by the messenger who came to inform him that tomorrow he would be killed by Queen Jezebel. This peculiar message, which rather reminded of the roar of a caged lioness, causes Elijah to be totally upset. God gives him new strength through special cakes and he comes very close to Elijah. And in Elijah’s daily life, someone comes to help him. God assigns him Elisha as a buddy.

The Good Samaritan, offering support from an unsuspected source, provides more than just first aid. His aftercare extends to the point that the man is able to handle life himself again. And fortunately, the paralytic man has a number of companions. Otherwise, he would not have ended up at the feet of Jesus with the help of a manual elevator. If he would not have had those four friends, it remains to be seen whether he would have been able to walk again. Actually, things are even more beautiful. Partly thanks to them he has a restored relationship with God. His sins are forgiven!

In conclusion:

In the provision of support and in living in a community something of the good world is evident that God is working on.

3. The Anchoring of Man as a Social Being←⤒🔗

Creation←↰⤒🔗

God Almighty created the world not because it was necessary, but because he wanted it and was pleased with it. God, who appraised his creation as very good, decided after consulting himself in Three Persons, to create human beings. He wanted to make people who would resemble him, beings who were included in a relationship with him and who could exist alongside him as persons. These persons could not stand on their own. Adam was allowed to try that for a while, and even though he lived as a happy man in a sinless state in an excellent relationship with his God, he lacked another one like him. In being male and female and in the co-existence of persons, it appears that people are created after his image.

The Break←↰⤒🔗

Then the relationship was broken up; man threw himself into the arms of another. Adam and Eve did this by violating the commandment of life. The disastrous consequences were felt by the entire creation and especially by every human being. Man was alienated from his Maker, from his fellow human being, from his surroundings and himself. From then on, unforgivable sins and misdeeds determined his daily life.

Pastoral Care←↰⤒🔗

The Almighty, God Triune, asked: “Adam, where are you?” He sought out man again. In spite of the breakup he wanted to live again in the relationship he had established. His pastoral act was that God came to Adam and Eve and thus showed that he still wanted to have a relationship with them. However, the bond was broken. Speaking lies is the first reaction to God’s question. And yet he opened a possibility to make what was lost to be whole again, but that way is beyond Paradise and not with the people. He continued to show who he was, more and more clearly. He interacted with people all the time and acted according to his own plan. A book resulted from those events, with events, songs, proverbs of wisdom, and messages of God. But who truly showed what the Father was like?

The Saviour←↰⤒🔗

“Here am I.” Jesus, Son of God, came down as a baby in Bethlehem, as an asylum seeker in Egypt, as a school child in Nazareth and he knew even then that he needed to be with his Father. He followed in the footsteps of his earthly father and became a carpenter. His hands became calloused, his nails sometimes blue. He learned to handle wood and how to interact with his brothers to whom he was almost completely equal. And on the cursed wood he bore their sins and ours. He restored the relationship with God. Prayer and worship can now be done anywhere.

The Holy Spirit←↰⤒🔗

The Holy Spirit came to comfort as Jesus ascended from earth into heaven as a human person. He works toward the eschaton. In the kingdom of Christ, he uses all of the good creation and through re-creation he renews people so that something is shining again from Adam and Eve, when it was good. The believer is a temple, even if he is handicapped in spirit and body, even if his psyche is totally confused. The Holy Spirit does indeed transform people, but does not de-personalize them, on the contrary.

Community←⤒🔗

The Triune God did not simply want individuals, but a community, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (1 Peter 2:5). His love can dwell with those people, with the community of Christ. It is a community of new individuals. In them something of the eschaton already becomes visible, and speaking Coram Deo, it is the perfect community. Coram hominem, however, it is also a community like any other, where all social mechanisms apply, where alienation prevails at all levels and where hard work is necessary because the gift also represents a task.

4. A Number of Biblical Principles in Contemporary Terms←↰⤒🔗

The five concepts that will be elaborated below are so foundational that a human being would die if he did not receive anything from the warmth radiated from them. The concepts are linked directly to the preceding description of biblical anchoring. They find their origin with God and in God’s actions.

Security←↰⤒🔗

Security implies being somewhere safe, being able to crawl back or hide behind the mother’s lap and the father’s strong hands. Safe from the unsafe world out there.

Safety on earth is concrete and tangible for people who live in a restored relationship with God and with his gospel. They use that standard of the Bible for themselves and others.

Security with God is not passive. It also means that there is direction in life. He has a purpose for his creation. Security without a purpose is meaningless preservation, being stowed away without a destination.

Affection←↰⤒🔗

Affection, or love, implies being inclined towards someone, showing love, being devoted. No human being can do without it; everyone craves it, and certainly the human who finds him- or herself in a crisis. Being attentive, showing that someone is there and is allowed to be there, connects with being interested in another person, being able to be open to him or her. This is how a relationship begins to grow.

God is totally inclined towards man, unconditionally, even when this person does not see him standing. He epitomizes love.

Acceptance←↰⤒🔗

Can someone be allowed to be who he is? Or does he first have to become as the other person wishes him to be? In concrete terms, acceptance means that the person in question is worthy of respect as a creature of God. That he can be the person he is. There are all kinds of improvements that could be made, and God also improves mankind, but the start lies in the acceptance: you are here and that is great! Acceptance has everything to do with his tolerance. The lower that limit is, the more easily he can see others as individuals with intrinsic value. The better he knows himself and does not hide his sins from God, the greater his acceptance of others. Does he not constantly marvel at the fact that God is not rejecting him?

Trust

Next in line is trust, a result of the previous three concepts. In each case, the mutual dependence is very strong. The concepts overlap each other. Chronic distrust arises when there has been little or no affection, security and acceptance. The result is non-social behaviour and a compulsion for compensation.

Having confidence in yourself means seeing opportunities for growth, being able to develop yourself, and seeing others not as competitors but as fellow human beings.

The trust that God gives to people has no limits. Instead of ruling his community himself and only by himself, he does this through other people. He allows his own children to be raised by sinful fathers and mothers.

Authenticity←↰⤒🔗

This is how the person with whom the pastor is dealing may discover himself as a protected, loved and accepted person to whom God himself gives trust as someone who may be in this broken world as his Creator intended him to be. He does not have to become someone else entirely. He can be aware of what he feels, thinks and wants. He can take his place fully and does not have to live in the straightjacket of others. He does not have to grow beyond his own capabilities. He can identify his strong and also his weak points without feeling rejected. His task in life is not to adapt to others, but to be himself.

The pastor is allowed to go on a journey with the person he is visiting to discover his destination. What is the place where this person may live? How can he respond to the love and care of God in his life? What is his response to the call of God to live in a relationship with him? How does he, with his “total self” and his own unique character, intend to be a co-worker with him?

The one person can, as a truly caring human being with a tender heart, tell the other in a more serious tone that on the one hand he has great affection for him and on the other he will also point out his faults to him.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

With these concepts a pastor (minister, elder) can evaluate his own performance.

Now it is also easy to see that a single: “Just continue to pray,” can be an empty remark, which contains more the element of rejection than acceptance. Pastoral care, or for that matter our entire dealings with one another, will have to be based on these concepts if they are to function properly.

That is how God’s love gets hands and feet in church life. These five concepts represent our Christian task and duty in the fellowship that he established.

For you and me this often will imply a lot of homework.