Live Free with Josh Howerton - Devoted, Not Disconnected • Pastor Carlos Erazo | Ep. 184 | Thursday October 19, 2023

Episode Date: October 19, 2023

It has been scientifically proven that loneliness is detrimental to our health. This is not a new revelation. In the very beginning, God said it is not good for humans to be alone. He calls us to be devoted, not disconnected from the believers around us. Join us today as Pastor Carlos Erazo talks about the value of deep relationship with others. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.compturch slash daily drive. In this week's episodes, we will be hearing from our specials. guest, Pastor Carlos Arazo. And now, let's dive in to today's devotional. Well, hey guys, welcome to our Daily Drive.

If we haven't met, my name is Carlos, and I get to be part of the pastoral team here at Lake Point, and we get to hang out this week for a few weeks, a few minutes, actually, every day as we dive into the Word of God. And this week, we're talking about how to live devoted to Jesus in a time full of distractions. On Monday, we talked about being called to be devoted, not distracted. On Tuesday, we talked about being devoted, not distracted.

being devoted, not deformed. On Wednesday we learned, we're called to be devoted, not discouraged. And today, we're exploring this following biblical truth. Are you ready? You are called to be devoted, not disconnected. Let's go. And let's just dive straight into the Word of God today. And in the first book of the Bible called Genesis, in the very first pages, we find an all-powerful, almighty, good God, creating all things. And every time he creates, he then declares them to be good. And then, And so he made the heavens and he said it was good. He made the animals. He said it was good.

He made the man and the woman. He said it was very good. It just keeps getting better. Until he says this, listen to this in Genesis chapter 2, verse 18. The Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. Now, I want you to stop for a moment and think about what's going on here. This is God and here is man.

In this new world, God just created for him to be a reflection of who God is. So it's God and man. Adam could have easily said, hey, it's just me and God. That's it. I'm good. I don't need anything or anybody else. And God says to that, actually, nope. In this sense, me and God is not really enough.

Here's what God is clearly saying from the very beginning of Scripture. It is not good for you to be alone. Which is kind of interesting because we live in a time where we're more connected than ever. And yet for some reason, we are the loneliest generation in history. Author Jenny Allen in her book, Finder People, explores this theme really well, and I highly recommend that book. And in it, she highlights some research that has found that more than three out of five Americans report being and feeling chronically lonely, and that number is expected to

increase in the future. And with loneliness comes all sorts of things like anxiety, depression, isolation, all of which are huge issues in our culture today so much so that scientists are now warning that loneliness is worse for our health than obesity, smoking, lack of access to health care and physical inactivity. Like, I know that sounds wild, so you can Google that later, but loneliness and isolation is associated with greater risk in cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. And when you live socially disconnected, it's as detrimental to your health as if you smoked up to 15 cigarettes a day. That, that's a lot. That,

That is insane. And by the way, side note, this is a perfect example of how modern sociology continues to catch up with theology. Like God's been saying, it's not good for you to be alone for thousands of years. And modern science is now saying, yep, I guess God is right. Now, we don't have time to go deep on this, but let me share this with you. The reason why God doesn't want us to be alone, but surrounded and connected with an intimate community is because God is himself a community. The Bible teaches us that God is one God in three persons. This is what we call the doctrine of the Trinity, three united in one.

Again, we don't have time to go deeper on that. That's for some other podcasts. But here's the main point. God is a relational God. And you were made in his image. So as a devoted follower of Jesus, you are not called to be disconnected or alone. He wired you to have deep, intimate connections and relationships. And I'm not talking about being a part of a neighborhood or a big group of people.

That's okay if you are. I'm talking about being known by a few. I'm talking about people that actually know you, not just the perfect version of you of what you post on social media. I'm talking about real, close, raw, intimate, messy day-to-day relationships. We need that. And check this out. I don't know if you relate to this, but we're not good at that.

I'll be the first one to admit it. Now, today, it's easy to have 500, quote unquote, friends on Facebook, but it's very hard to have five real friends that you see regularly, that they see you, that you do life together, that they know not only the pretty things about you, but also your struggles. I saw a meme once that said that Jesus' real miracle was having 12 close friends in his mid-30s. And it rings true. Sometimes that feels like that would be a miracle today. Now, people have studied how we're wired to be in relationships, and studies have found that a normal person can basically handle a network of like 150 people. That's people that you generally know and all of you and you guys are familiar with each other. That's great.

Now, within that 150 people, studies find that only 15 can be people that you know enough to actually influence each other significantly. And within those 15, only five can actually be your intimate. small circle of friends. And we call that intimacy because it's into me see, people that are able to actually see you because they're that close. So let me ask you this. Do you feel lonely today? If so, who's in your inner circle? And if you're not sure, that's okay. Let me try to help you in a very practical way by asking you this. Who do you know already that might be within your acquaintances? Maybe people from church, maybe from work, your neighbors, or people that are already somewhat close to you that you need to initiate and draw closer to. And the reason this matters so much is because check this

out, the quality of your life will most be determined by the quality of those relationships. Let me say that one more time because I really want you to think about this. The quality of your life will most be determined by the quality of your intimate relationships. I mean, if you think about it, people today are chasing goals, jobs, jobs, money, power, influence, popularity. And yet, if you were to achieve every single one of those things and your relationships are poor, then your life will be poor. But even if things go wrong or things don't turn out the way you expect or you don't achieve all those things you want it, but you have rich, intimate, close relationships.

Your life will still be rich, full, deep in company, love, friendship, and care. And so today, I want to gently nudge you to get out of your comfort zone, resist the temptation of isolation, and think of finding those people that can become part of your inner circle. I know for many of us this can be hard, challenging, scary, honestly, just uncomfortable. because we have all of our baggage and it's not easy to be vulnerable with each other but the truth is, hey, we need each other. I read this quote recently and I was challenged by it

hoping in my challenge some of you as well. Author Andy Crouch said this, you can be impressive or you can be known but you cannot be both. Let me wrap our time together with Romans 1210 that says be devoted to one another in love, honor one another above yourselves. Hey, to be like Jesus, to love God,

to be like Jesus is to love God and love other people. And for you to love others, you need to actually know other people and be known by them. They don't have to be many. They can be few. It is not easy. It is messy. It is risky and it takes work.

But being surrounded by an intimate few is good for your soul. And it's what you were designed for. You are called to be devoted, not disconnected. We'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m.

and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.combe.combe. Church slash daily drive.