Isolation and Solitude

There is a difference between solitude and isolation. Okay, I get it. Webster’s Dictionary might not completely agree. But, I think there is a great and even necessary reason for us to make a distinction.

Isolation is what the leper in Luke 5:12-14 would have known as a result of his being unclean. The Law commanded that lepers live alone outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46).  Taken literally, as some have, this means they are cutoff from the rest of society and other lepers. This would mean their lives are lived absolutely isolated and alone. As I mentioned this last Sunday, and referenced numerous studies, this isn’t good for anyone – loneliness is deadly. When Jesus healed the leper, He didn’t just end the disease, He ended the leper’s isolation. 

But after Jesus healed the leper, the passage ends with one final ironic twist.

Luke 5:16 (ESV) But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

It’s ironic because in touching the leper in verse 13, Jesus allowed the man to experience human contact. It’s ironic because in cleansing the man’s leprosy, Jesus made it possible for him to be reconciled to family and friends. It’s ironic because by sending the leper to the priests, Jesus was reuniting him to the covenant community and corporate worship. It’s ironic because this miracle, is a parable of the power of God through the Gospel to reconcile us to Himself and one another and yet Jesus withdraws.

The truth is this isn’t just ironic. But is a profound illustration of how desperately we need healthy rhythms of both Christian community and times alone with our Father in Heaven. Both are vitally important for our Christian life.

It is here in the midst of the differences between the leper’s isolation and Jesus’ solitude that we find an important distinction that should be made. Consider the contrast…

The leper was always alone. He was cutoff not only from God’s people but also approaching God where God might be found. He wasn’t welcome in the Temple or the Synagogues of the day. He was unclean and remained unclean until he was determined to be clean by the priests. Before he could participate in Jewish holy days or corporate worship, he had to be rid of his leprosy. Until then, he truly was all by himself. The leper was isolated.

Jesus was never alone, even in solitude. Nor, was it His purpose in withdrawing to be by Himself. Jesus knew the importance of others and how we were created to “do life” together. It was Jesus that set the tone for our unified lives together. He is the one that showed us that it is within the Christian community we are able to know and be known, serve an be served and encourage and be encouraged. When Jesus withdrew, it wasn’t to be alone, it was to be alone with God.

Jesus withdrew to spend intentional and concentrated time in pray and communion with His Father in Heaven. He knew it was this time alone with God that we are made ready to be a part of His people; loving as we have been loved, serving as we have been served, forgiving as we have been forgiven. If He needed this, how much more do we?

There is a difference between solitude and isolation – one is life giving the other is no life at all.

So, leave the phones, tablets, and distractions behind. Get your Bible and maybe a journal and go be alone with your Father in Heaven, you need this, we all do.

Who Are You Following?

We all follow something or someone. As independent or free as we feel, it just isn’t possible. Intrinsic to humanity is our dependent nature, our need for one another and our need to be led. This has always been true and will always be true. But now, because of the Gospel, we are finally able to see that there are really only two directions to go, towards life or death.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins, in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once  lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:1-3 (ESV)

Apart from Christ, we have no hope of doing anything other than following a path in death to death. We are bound to follow Satan’s path, the world’s path even the path established by the desires of our sinful nature.

If this were the end of the passage or the only truth the Bible shared, we might as well close it up and enjoy life as we know it. Thankfully it isn’t the end. In verse 4, Paul sets the contrast immediately, “But God.” Paul goes on (Ephesians 2:4-10) to reveal to us that as a result of God’s power, love, grace and mercy we have been united to Christ in life. He closes this passage with the revelation that this new life gives way to new works. To say it another way, this new life follows a new path; a path He has planned for us.

The call of Jesus on each of us who have been made alive is to turn from following Satan, the world, and our sinful nature in order to follow His plan and His purpose. He is the prize and following Him is the greatest priority.

We all follow something, every action, every decision, every pursuit of our life is moving in one of two directions under the leadership of drastically different leaders. The contrast is striking, to follow Christ is to turn towards Him and begin swimming upstream against the flow. Also, the destination is incomparable as incomparable as life and death.

What or who are you following?

Do you need more reason to follow Jesus? Do you want to know more about His plans and purposes? Listen here. Then if you want to know more, contact us here.