Created for Fellowship

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

In his book What on Earth Am I Here for?, Rick Warren reminds us that we are called to belong, not just believe. He says our relationship with Christ is personal but not private.

This kind of fellowship is called koinonia. Koinonia is a Greek word that occurs 20 times in the Bible. Koinonia’s primary meaning is “fellowship, sharing in common, communion.” The first occurrence of koinonia is Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

We want to experience koinonia in our relationship with others. The best way for Christians to experience koinonia  is through belonging to a church.

 

Let’s look at the importance of being a member of a church family as Warren tells us.

 A church family identifies you as a genuine believer.

          It is a witness to the world

A church family moves you out of self-centered isolation.

          It is in the family of believers that we experience unity and a connectedness. We

          realize that we are not alone.

A church family helps you develop spiritual muscle.

          Being a part of a church family helps us to be in relationship with other believers.

 

The New Testament uses the phrases “one another” and “each other” over 50 times: pray for each other, encourage each other, admonish each other, greet each other, serve each other, teach each other, accept each other, honor each other, bear each other’s burdens, forgive each other, submit to each other, be devoted to each other, love each other. This is done through the church, the body of believers.

Real fellowship among believers is experiencing life together.  This kind of fellowship is not superficial. It is genuine, heart-to-heart, gut-level sharing. This happens in group settings when people develop trust.   Groups best experience fellowship – koinonia – when… the experience is mutual, there is sympathy, and there is mercy.

I am so blessed to lead two women’s groups that experience koinonia: the Women of Worth  (WOW) group and the Mom2Mom group. These groups love each other, have shared experiences, sympathize and empathize with each other, and extend mercy and grace to each other.  In the world of reality TV it seems expected that women will argue, call names, live in jealousy, and spew venom, it is refreshing to have 175 girlfriends in these two groups who show Christ’s love to each other and to others. This demonstration of love is real; it is koinonia love and friendship. Thanks be to God for these women!

 

To hear my 60 minute audio lesson on fellowship, click here:

Fellowship