Robert Putman, author of Bowling Alone and many other books, has a new book out called American Grace. It is a research work on religion in America. There are many interesting findings in the book, but the one I want to highlight is the link that he has found between Christian social networks and being a good neighbor--serving others, giving towards others, civic involvement, altruism, etc.

Putnam says, "Our index of religious social networks (number of close friends in your congregation, participation in small groups in your congregation, and frquency of talking about religion with family and friends) is virtually the most powerful predictor of every measure of good neighborliness." (p. 472)

Putnam also says that "devout people who sit alone in the pews are not much more neighborly than people who don't go to church at all . . . even an atheist who happened to become involved in the social life of a congregation (perhaps through a spouse) is much more likely to volunterr in a soup kitchen than the most fervent believer who prays alone. It is religious belonging that matters for neighborliness, not religious believing."

Why is there this close link between Christian friendships and service to the world? Perhaps because God made us for community, and it is not good for "man to be alone." When we are in relationship to other Christians, we are more likely to have spiritual conversations, hold one another accountable, and learn how to out our faith into practice.

In the Story of Redemption and several of our small groups, we encourage the practice of blessing three people each week--one a Christian, one an unchurched person, and the third can be either. (These practices are taken from Michael Frost's BELLS missional lifestyle.) Then each week we come back and share who we tried to bless and what God did with this. Because we talk about this each week, it creates relational accountability, and we have the joy of sharing these stories back to one another. This is an example of the link that Putnam finds between service to neighbor and Christian community.

In others, we can't serve our neighbor very well on our own. We need the encouragement and accountability of other Christians. If we or other Christians are struggling to serve others, perhaps it is because they are not part of a Christian social network (small group, close Christian friends) who are encouraging them in this.

What do you think of the link between service of neighbor and Christian social networks/friends/small groups?