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Are You Stuck in Point Nemo?


Few people have heard of Point Nemo. Possibly for good reason because it was named the loneliest place on earth. There’s nothing to see at Point Nemo. Surrounding Point Nemo is 9 million square miles of ocean, and nothing else. It is the absolute furthest point from any land you can possibly be on this planet. In fact, were you to go to Point Nemo the closest human being to you would likely be the astronauts on the International Space Station, floating 249 miles above you. Some days, a trip to Point Nemo sounds really inviting. It would be nice to have some peace and quiet. I wonder, though, how many of us unintentionally and unknowingly live "Point Nemo" level of isolated lives, even though we are constantly surrounded by others.

More and more people are living absolutely alone. Some of you are thinking "I don't need to read this email because I'm not alone, ever." I'm so busy. I have a spouse, children, co-workers, friends. I almost have too much of other people. While you may be surrounded by others, many of you are living all by yourselves.

I want you to consider, how many people really know you? I don't mean people who know who your spouse is, what your favorite show is, or where you work. What I'm talking about is how many people know the places you are susceptible to temptation, what overwhelms you or brings you down, and where you struggle every day? Or do you live in relationships that you call friendships but you live largely unknown? On the other side of the coin, I want to ask, how many people do you really know? How many people are you able to speak honestly to?

Your life was designed to be in community. You were never meant to live your life all by yourself. Biblical faith was never designed to be an isolationist, solitary, individual experience between only you and God. Everything you read in the Bible points us to the fact that he designed us to live in community with others. It's not an individualistic Jesus and me faith. It's a commitment to community with God and community with others.

Take a second to think about it Biblically. Think about who God is. God is a trinity. There are three different members of the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I want you to think about this. God is himself a functioning community. Everything Jesus does is He does with and in agreement with the Father and the Spirit. God is the ultimate community. God made us in his image and he made us as community beings. He designed us to live in constant, productive, committed community with others. It's a necessity. You won't be living according to creative order if you aren't committed to this kind of community. You can never properly be what you were designed to be and do what you were designed to do without living intentional community with others.

God's greatest commands for us are to love God above all else and love our neighbors as ourselves. God desires us to have a community with God and community with other people. You were made for horizontal and vertical communities. You and I were never created to have casual relationships separated from the real realities of life. I want to be sure you understand, you can live in long-term relationships and be fundamentally and basically unknown. We can be masters at casual conversations. We can go about life not being concerned about the other person. You can think it's okay not being known and not knowing others. It's not God's way. God has called you to humble, open, dependent relationships with Him and Others.

One of the ways God grows me is close, deep, honest community with others. Where people can encourage me and challenge me and confront me and help me because they know me and what I struggle with in my life. I was never designed to live all by myself.

How do you live in this kind of community?


In order to live in community you need to live honestly. You need to ask others about how their walk with God is, how they are struggling. You need to open up about where your struggle is and how they can pray for you. Talk about Jesus. Talk about what God is doing in your life. You also need to be humble and approachable. Learn to listen without being defensive. Are you willing to grow and change through relationships? This will be uncomfortable at first. But it will grow and strengthen your relationships from casual relationships to deep relationships that produce growth in both of you.

This is what we are striving for at FSM. We are working to build a culture of true, Biblical community. A culture where people can talk honestly about what is going on in their lives and not fear condemnation but accept honest feedback. This is why we do what we do. So you can walk in close, honest, real relationships with others while we all push each other toward Christ.


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