Praise the Lord everyone! What is on my heart this month? Fellowship! What is it and why do we need it? In the Book of Acts we read these words…
Acts 2:42–44 (NIV) 42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common.
As I was patrolling Friday (working at the Lake), the Lord brought this scripture up in my heart… “and to fellowship,” and it was one I knew I needed to pursue for this months direction and theme. In fact I even got a call from a former parishioner...and he told me how God had burdened his heart, that Sunday’s and Wednesday’s...were not enough for him...he needed more. Inside of him was a desire for more! More what? Fellowship! Praise the Lord! So that is exactly what I am going to do for this message today...we are going to talk about fellowship!
So If you’re a Christian (or have been around Christians), you’ve probably heard the word “fellowship” a lot. If you ask someone unfamiliar with church what it means, they’ll likely tell you that a fellowship is a type of scholarship focused on people pursuing a graduate degree-but that’s not how the New Testament uses it.
For Christians, fellowship means participation. People often define it as “community,” but it’s so much more than that. Community describes several individuals who choose to be together. But people who have aligned themselves with Jesus become members of the same structure. Paul explains it this way:
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
While it’s true that the Spirit dwells in each one of us, Paul is speaking to the church. Together, we are the dwelling place of God. Unlike a community, we don’t simply choose to be part of God’s family. When we place our trust in Jesus, we become participants in the life of the church. Paul reiterates this point later in the same letter.
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body-whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many (1 Corinthians 12:12-14).
The image of the church as the body of Christ is a beautiful metaphor, but it represents a significant reality. Jesus is present in and expresses Himself through the church. Every Christian becomes a participant in the body of Christ.
New Testament Fellowship!
To better understand what fellowship is and how it works, let’s examine how the term is occasionally used in Scripture. The word that often gets translated as “fellowship” is koinonia.
Luke tells us what the church looked like in its infancy. One of the things they dedicated themselves to was fellowship. In this passage, Luke breaks down what that looks like. For one thing, being committed to fellowship meant that they were committed to being in one another’s presence.
We see that “all the believers were together” and “every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.” But more than that, they then gathered together for meals in their homes. But we also see that fellowship went farther than simply being around each other. Luke tells us that part of that commitment was they had everything in common.
Their commitment to fellowship went so much deeper than devotion to being together. They saw it as a responsibility to share their lives.
Called into fellowship!
God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship (koinonia) with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought (1 Corinthians 1:9-10 Greek added)
A lot of Bibles put a break after the first sentence here and then add a section header above the rest. But it really should be read together because it forms a complete thought. Paul was addressing some discord in Corinth, and he believes that a proper understanding of fellowship would make all the difference.
He reminds the Corinthians that their faithful God has called them all into fellowship with Jesus. This means that they participate in His mercy, grace, power, and destiny. With that being the case, divisions and disunity don’t make any sense. They belong to Jesus-and to one another. Fellowship isn’t about building community around common interests. It’s not like a bowling league or a weekly book club. It’s the common life shared among all the followers of Jesus. And our fellowship isn’t just with one another, but it’s our shared participation in the life of Christ. Fellowship is more then this, and it is something only true believers can enjoy, and benefit from. To define it in a simpler understanding...it is... the idea of a deep sharing of life, partnership together in a common cause, and spiritual unity. Remember that the intimacy and fulfillment of biblical fellowship (whether with God or with others) first require a relationship. This is where I feel that today...fellowship is one thing greatly needed in the churches today…but before we have it...we must become vulnerable...and build relationships.
Next month Part 2
Jesus loves you and so do I! ~ Pastor Doug
