Loneliness needs to be considered a justice issue.

Let me clarify a few things. As Psychologist Keith Sonnanburg points out, being alone and being lonely are not the same thing. Seattle is filled with people who chose the former and are quite content; whereas loneliness is a sense of disconnection, a lack of genuine community. Loneliness knows no bounds. It affects those who are married, single, rich, poor, male and female. In the depths of loneliness, we desperately long to be known by someone and to know them.

Why is loneliness a justice issue? Tim Keller, in Generous Justice, defines pursuing justice as giving people what they are due as image bearers of God. We are due relationship. I am not suggesting that those who do good deserve relationship. Rather, relationship, just like food, is a human need. One needs it to survive. Because our modern world has made it difficult to connect with other people, loneliness is rampant.

Considering loneliness as a justice issue will change the way the Church responds. Most solutions I’ve seen include a call to change one’s habits. Get a hobby or a pet. Don’t medicate with busyness. Develop social skills that allow you to engage in conversation. Whether these solutions are right or helpful is not my point. My point is that by considering loneliness as a justice issue, we will see it as a societal problem, not just a personal one. We all have a part in finding a solution, including the Church.

How must the Church respond? I am not totally sure. I think that's conversation we need to have. Maybe it’s as simple as uncovering the seriousness of the issue and asking God to make us into people who care more. Maybe it’s intentionally fighting against isolation.

Whatever the solution, I think we must begin by seeing loneliness as an issue of justice.