How many neighbors can you love? For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with the Point.

In the 1990s, evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar proposed a theory that there's a limit to how many friends people can maintain at once.

It's known as Dunbar's number. It suggests that most people have the capacity for meaningful relationships up to about 150 individuals.

Now, it is a confusing era these days for human connection,

rates of loneliness and anxiety at an all-time high, and at the same time, some are practicing

what's called relationship minimalism, eliminating connections with anyone perceived as burdensome

or toxic. But the Christian worldview offers a balance. The Bible tells us clearly that we're

to bear with difficult

people and show them the same love and dignity that God shows the annoying people in his life,

you know, like us. The Son of God turned the world upside down with a group of 12. On the other hand,

he frequently ignored huge crowds to invest time with a few people that were in front of him.

Dunbar's number leads back to a fundamental

lesson. There may not be 150 people in our lives that give us joy, but they are neighbors we are

to love. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with The Point.