Hey Canada: Do we have a drug problem or a modern-day loneliness problem?

I have been thinking about this for some time… The rise of unregulated drug overdoses, the increase of self-harm and isolationism, and the polarization of people groups in my neck of the woods are a few of the outcomes of something deeper than the symptoms of modern-day loneliness. In the area where I live, the average deaths from drugs is approximately four people/day! Since 2016, over 16,000 people have died from drug poisoning.

To put this in perspective, we might all know of someone who is either addicted to harmful drugs and/or have had serious harm from drug-related consumption.

In any case, I would suggest that even though we have a drug and mental health crisis in our world, it is NOT as much of a drug problem as it is an isolationism problem.

Let me put it this way…

Modern-day loneliness is compared to the damaging effects of smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. Isolationism, relationally speaking, is linked to health issues with heart failure, hypertension, an increase in strokes, and so much more (unfortantely). Additionally, the separation between a modern-day pandemic and developing healthy, long-lasting, and beneficial relationships is harder to achieve and maintain.

Simply put…

This is WHERE the local church can thrive. As the church is designed to be, the community is fostered over the individual. It is IN the local church context where relationships CAN be achieved, practiced, and cultivated. YET, community standards - in any society - need to be protected, guided, and championed against the personalized and individualistic mindset of the modern-day world.

How can we do this well?

May I suggest it is the 97+ “One Another Commandments” of Jesus in the New Testament Narrative. Prove me wrong? :)