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.
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.
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:
