I have a friend I have been encouraging to go back to church since she left Tidewater some years ago. She has subsequently divorced. There are young children involved, with her as the primary custodian.

I was thinking this week how many younger people claim to have social anxiety right now and how often that is given as a reason for non-church attendance (not necessarily by my friend).

The thing is, the same people with the social anxiety will go to restaurants and concerts, but just stick with the people they know well, never venturing to get into conversations with strangers or acquaintances. I get it that almost everyone perceives a lot of danger in the unknown nowadays but I think that that perception is sometimes way out of proportion, especially when it comes to church.

What are we afraid of with the ordinary stranger or acquaintance, at church or elsewhere? Most people we meet are not dangerous, but talking to someone to get to know them can be incredibly awkward, can’t it? Some people are gifted at small talk, some are gifted at getting conversations to a deeper level, some are extremely gifted at turning every conversation toward a certain sports team. :-)

Yet there are lots of people who are totally afraid of starting a conversation with those they do not know well. Some may actually have a diagnosable social anxiety (those on the autism spectrum, for example), but most are probably just experiencing things common to the human race. We all feel awkward sometimes.

When a young person goes to church after a lifetime of non-church attendance or after a long period of staying away, I believe that fear of awkwardness is probably the thing that most panics them. Yet if they never face it, they will never go to church, nor even make a friend beyond their current circle.

We can encourage, but in the end, the decision is theirs to make.

If they stay away from joining a good church, they miss a fountain of wisdom, fellowship, and God’s goodness every single week. They lose out here.

It is just sad that such a high percentage right now lose out by claiming social anxiety, a condition which is probably common to all of us at times. Awkwardness is not the enemy. When we face it and break it down, we find deeply buried treasure in our fellow believers!!!