Science and the Bible agree: Happiness comes with community

In the world of social media wisdom, it is often taught that happiness results solely from focusing on oneself above all else. While acknowledging the fact that achieving your goals elicits the dopamine response that will deliver temporary happiness and satisfaction (you must continually set goals) and knowing how important self-esteem is when interacting with others; we must realize that this can’t come at the expense of having a positive relationship with others. In a religious setting, this is similar to when someone comes to the point when they must if and when they should go to church as part of their spiritual journey.

The research study “Successfully Striving for Happiness: Socially Engaged Pursuits Predict Increases in Life Satisfaction” by Julia Roher et al. followed over 1,000 people from 2014 to 2015 to determine if a socially based strategy (interacting with/helping others) to achieve happiness or a non-socially based strategy (personal goals) was more effective in helping them feel better. The social strategy was overwhelmingly more effective in improving the participant’s average life satisfaction scores over the course of a year (there was no change in the personal goals group). The message to take away from here is to not alienate yourself, or put yourself above everyone else in pursuit of happiness, but to surround yourself with the right people and reach out and do good for others. “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” - Proverbs 13:20

When it comes to community in a religious setting, it is true that we all have our personal relationships with God. To a certain extent our Christian walk will be between us and God as he reveals answers to us in how we should lead our life. “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” – Acts 17:27. But the reality is that the Bible doesn’t specifically say or lay out a plan for growing in our faith or accomplishing our mission on Earth by ourselves in isolation. So the school of thought that says: ‘So many Churches can be bad, which means we should have our Christian walk on our own terms beyond our introduction’ is not supported by anything Jesus has said in the New Testament or God has inspired in the Old.

The Bible says God’s presence is with our groups no matter how small: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them,” –Matthew 18:20, it also mentions the importance of meeting together “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” –Hebrews 10:24-25. So keep this in mind the next time you hear a social media rant to the tune of ‘religion without church’.

So similar to how picking your friends is the key versus approaching life on your own, the key with religion is picking the right community versus attempting to make the Christian walk on your own. In my article “Q & A for those on the fence about religion Part 2” I discuss what to look for in a Church community based on what the Bible teaches us. This shows that the Bible and science are in support of the RIGHT community for supporting our happiness in our spiritual and social life.