The Flu, Broken Homes and The Church: The Power of Belonging

Where do you belong? To a family? To a school? To a job? To a church? Where do you find your belonging?

Stanford researchers in 2007 came out with the results of a research project they had done with over 7000 different people. In this research they identified markers of a person with a healthy sense of belonging: attached to community, attached to relationships, etc. They identified healthy markers and unhealthy markers. Then they asked the question, “what happens to people when they feel like they belong or they don’t belong?” Are there any significant effects of belonging?”

Here’s what they found: for those who felt like they belonged (they had a strong sense of belonging), they were four times more likely to be healthy in every area of their lives (mentally and physically). They found that the sense of belonging was so important that it affects our physical health and mental health. Another survey they did in this study was that they infected 276 people with the flu virus. They wanted to see if a sense of belonging had any affect on how long they would be sick. They discovered that those who had a sense of community or belonging were three times more likely not to get sick even if they were infected or to have only a short period of sickness. Those without belonging were more likely to get sick and to suffer the full range of effects of the flu.

That’s the power of belonging. In today’s fragmented society, broken families and a highly-mobile society (people don’t plant roots in one town) have opened up an incredible opportunity for the church. The search for belonging is one of the base needs that drive people to visit your church for the first time. Yes, they’re looking for God, but they’re also looking to belong.

If your church becomes a place where people can truly feel like they belong, you won’t need a slick advertising campaign. They’ll find you. That’s the power of belonging.