Our Need for Real Fellowship

When we use the word fellowship in the church, I would guess that it conjures up images of potlucks and coffee in-between services. I think we see fellowship as optional, like showing up early for a football game. We might enjoy the pre-game ceremonies, but we do not always approach it as being a command or essential. That mindset contradicts the biblical understanding of fellowship – it is essential. 

John puts it pretty bluntly when he writes, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7 ESV)

The way John puts it, fellowship is not an option for the believer; it is the natural state of the believer and it involves intentional connection. Our connections with those in the body of Christ are especially important. As Christians, we are called brothers and sisters in the family of God through the blood of Christ. The Bible gives these relationships a special distinction beyond mere friendship. That’s because bonds between believers are capable of developing a degree of spiritual closeness that far surpasses the limitations of natural human friendships. Christian relationships enjoy biblical Christian fellowship.

The biblical word that is translated as fellowship is from the Greek word koinonia. Koinonia can be defined as “holding something in common,” and is specifically used 20 times in the New Testament (e.g., Philippians 2:1-2, Acts 2:42, and 1 John 1:6-7). Koinonia describes the unity of the Spirit that comes from shared Christian beliefs, convictions, and behaviors. When those shared values are in place, genuine koinonia (biblical fellowship) occurs. This fellowship produces our mutual cooperation in God’s worship, God’s work, and God’s will being done in the world. 

It is important to note that this type of fellowship requires a different approach to relationships from other friendships. In Acts, we see a key word associated with true fellowship, it says that ”they devoted themselves…” Here is the context,  “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42 ESV) It is clear here that in the early church, they committed themselves to spending meaningful, intentional time with one another. We have drifted away from that a bit, prioritizing other things in our busy lives, and it is not without its consequences. 

The bottom line is, we cannot have biblical Christian fellowship without spending intentional time with one another, and there are few things more enjoyable in this world than that.

Expectantly,

Shawn