Intentional Communities: A False Hope for a Broken Generation

The phrase intentional communities keeps popping up everywhere. TikTok is full of young people talking about leaving the chaos of the world behind to build peaceful havens of shared living, sustainability, and emotional healing. From off-the-grid eco-villages to New Age spiritual co-ops to activist housing collectives, this movement is growing fast — and on the surface, I get the appeal.

But I believe these communities are offering a false hope to a broken generation.

We were made for community — no doubt about it. In Genesis, God said “It is not good for man to be alone.” Isolation was never part of God’s design. We are meant to live in communion with others — but more than that, we are meant to live in fellowship with other believers, rooted in Jesus Christ. And that’s where these so-called intentional communities fall apart.

What Are Intentional Communities Really Offering?

At first glance, they promise things we all crave: support, shared purpose, emotional connection, and escape from the loneliness that plagues our modern culture. Young people today are drowning in anxiety, digital isolation, and fractured families. So when someone says, “Let’s start a community where we live together, care for one another, and make decisions as a group,” it sounds like the answer.

But here’s the problem: when that community is not built on God’s truth, it is built on sinking sand.

Many of these groups explicitly reject biblical values. Some are rooted in New Age mysticism, others in radical ideologies that elevate personal identity over eternal truth. Others are affirming sin while calling it love. Some are LGBTQ+ collectives, others are emotionally driven wellness homes with no moral anchor. They may talk about healing — but what they’re offering is man-made comfort without the power of Christ.

And it doesn’t last.

If you want a clear idea of what intentional communities are, the Wikipedia definition gives a good overview of how they work and what kinds of ideologies drive them.

I Know Because I Lived It

I’m not speaking as an outsider looking in. I remember when I longed for a sense of belonging too — and in my case, that meant immersing myself in a gay community that promised love, identity, and family. For years, I thought I’d found what I needed. I surrounded myself with people who accepted me, affirmed me, and made me feel like I mattered.

But it ended in brokenness.

What looked like community turned out to be a substitute for true healing. Underneath the surface, I was still hurting. My search for meaning and identity led me deeper into addiction, especially alcoholism. I kept trying to numb the ache with pleasure, affirmation, and distraction — but none of it could fill the void in my soul.

It wasn’t until I found a Christ-centered community — people who loved me enough to tell me the truth, who walked with me in Scripture, who prayed over me, who called me to repentance and grace — that my life began to change.

If you want to read more about how that shift happened, here’s my story of how only Christ truly satisfies.

That’s real community. That’s what God designed.

Without Christ, Community Fails

The early Church in Acts didn’t gather around shared trauma, or around identities or causes. They gathered around the risen Jesus. They prayed, broke bread, studied the Word, and held each other accountable in love. That’s what made them strong.

Compare that to today’s “intentional” groups that say:

• Truth is whatever you make it
• We don’t judge anyone’s lifestyle
• We’re spiritual, but not religious
• We love Jesus, but not the Bible
• Everyone is welcome — unless you believe in objective truth

That is not biblical community. That is idolatry with a group chat.

When the foundation is emotionalism, self-affirmation, or collective therapy sessions, it may feel good for a while. But it cannot withstand the storms of life, temptation, or spiritual warfare. That kind of community becomes a bubble — one that’s bound to burst.

The Church Must Step Up

Now let me say something hard — but true: one reason these communities are growing is because the Church failed to be the community God called it to be.

Many churches have become social clubs, performance venues, or places where people hide their real struggles behind Sunday smiles. Young people are leaving not because they hate God, but because they never saw His love truly lived out among believers.

If the Church had been a place of real discipleship, honest relationships, grace-filled accountability, and Holy Spirit-led transformation, I don’t think so many would be running to these alternatives. We have to own that.

But we also need to reclaim what the Church is meant to be: a place of healing, truth, and unshakable hope — all centered on Jesus Christ.

A Loving Warning to This Generation

To anyone reading this who’s been drawn to one of these communities — I get it. I really do. I’ve been where you are. You want to belong. You want to feel safe. You want to be known.

But please hear me: no matter how good it looks on the outside, if Christ is not the center, it will fail you.

Your soul doesn’t just need connection — it needs redemption.
Your heart doesn’t just need support — it needs saving.
Your identity doesn’t just need affirmation — it needs to be rooted in who God says you are.

The world is offering a thousand versions of “community,” but only one leads to eternal life. That’s the Church — not the institution, but the living Body of Christ, filled with imperfect people made new by grace.

If you’re seeking something real, don’t settle for a spiritual knockoff. Come to the One who gave His life to bring you into the only true community that will never fail — the family of God.

Arch Kennedy
Bold, Unfiltered, and Unafraid