Serve One Another

In Search of Fellowship: Part 4

One of the cries of our hearts is that of companionship.  We all long to be part of a group and to know that other people care about us.  This sense of companionship is best experienced when people come along side us and help us through the difficulties and problems of life.  When people sacrifice their time, money, and resources on our behalf we know that they value our relationship.

As individuals we have the ability to choose how we will use the blessings God has given to us.  We can hoard our time and resources or can give them generously away.  The chooses we make reveal much about who we are and the faith we have in God.  The apostle Paul wrote:

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. (Galatians 5:13-15; NLT)

We have been given freedom and in that freedom God expects us to choose to serve each other.  This is how true fellowship is built.  It is not always easy to serve one another because rarely does it fall conveniently into our lives, but it is what God expects of us.

This reminds me of an episode in Jesus' life.  Jesus spent a day teaching and an evening in prayer.  The next day Jesus wanted to go to a quiet place with his disciples, but the crowds returned expecting more teaching and healing.  Jesus didn't send them away, rather, out of compassion, he served them.

Through our sacrifice people come to understand that we love them and desire to have a relationship with them.  The world is full of people who are to busy or don't care and so that makes it vitally important that we take the time to serve one another in love.  That is how true fellowship is born.

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Encourage One Another

In Search of Fellowship: Part 3

  I don’t have to tell you that life is hard.  Let’s face it tough times are a fact of life.  From financial pressure to medical problems to relationship difficulties to the death of a loved one we have all faced some sort of hardship.  The Christians who originally received the book of Hebrews as a letter understood tough times.  They had already lived through one persecution, but were weary and ready to give up when a second round of persecution hit.  These were people willing to throw away everything in order to escape a second round of suffering.
   
It is little wonder then that the writer of Hebrews tells his readers twice to encourage one another.  In Hebrews 3:13 he writes; But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. The writer doesn’t say to tell each other to hang in there, but he tells them to encourage each other daily.  We have to be on the lookout for how we can encourage one another everyday.  Why?  We need to encourage one another every day because life is tough for someone every day.
   
The writer of Hebrews goes on to write; Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching ( Hebrews 10:25).  Part of finding encouragement is being dedicated to meeting with other followers of Jesus Christ.  We can’t lock ourselves away in our rooms and expect people to come and encourage us.  Being encouraged is the result of intentionally being around other people.  Since we cannot guarantee that encouragement will happen when being with other Christians we need to remember to find ways to encourage those people we encounter, whether it is a kind word or a smile or seeking them out and saying hi.
 
Encouragement is about letting people know that no matter what happens they are not alone.  I know I gain courage and confidence when I remember that I have people who love and accept me no matter what may happen.  Encourage someone today, remind them that they are not alone.

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Risky Fellowship

In Search of Fellowship: Part 2

Deep and meaningful fellowship cannot be planned or programed.  The Fellowship Ministry Team at church may be able to plan times for Christians to get together, but they cannot force people to go beyond being polite and friendly with each other.  While these connections are good they often leave us wanting more.
   
We may not be able to program true fellowship, but we can take steps to create an environment where fellowship can thrive.  Remember fellowship doesn’t come naturally to us.  Yes, it is something that we desire, but we are more inclined to do things that benefit us, and fellowship, at its core, is about doing things that bless others people
   
No wonder the New Testament writers reminded us of the importance of being involved in the lives of one another.  Reading through the New Testament we discover that we are called to love one another, forgive one another, encourage one another, honor one another, live in harmony with one another, accept one another, and instruct one another.  This is a sampling of how God wants us to relate to each other. By relating to each other in these various ways we establish an environment in which fellowship can take root and grow.
   
The essence of fellowship is love.  The one another commands in the New Testament give us practical ways for us to love one another.  Fellowship is the extension of our love for each other.  How do we go about creating an environment of love that will allow fellowship to flourish?

We need to be willing to risk if we are to create environments which promote the development of fellowship.  Fellowship in nice in theory, but it messy in reality.  To have true fellowship we have to risk getting hurt by people, we have to risk getting involved in other people's problems, and we have to risk no being able to live life on our terms.

To be committed to one another is risky business, but it is the only way true fellowship will happen.  Taking this risk won't be easy, and at times we will want to hide behind the four walls of our houses, but in the end we will discover true fellowship is worth whatever the risk.

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What is Fellowship?

In Search of Fellowship: Part 1

During my time as a senior pastor I started a prayer group on Monday evening to focus on praying for the needs of our church family.  One Monday evening as we were discussing what God’s will is for our small church family one of the women made the observation that God’s will would include real fellowship.  The consensus of the group was that while we were a friendly church true fellowship was absent.
   
I believe that many church families are searching for fellowship.  They have programs in place to promote fellowship, but fellowship seems to elude them.  Potlucks and small groups aren’t connecting people to one another, let alone connecting people to God.  The reality is that fellowship can’t be programed or planned.  Fellowship is the result of people getting involved in one another’s lives.  Until we enter into the lives of other people fellowship will continue to be an elusive desire for our lives.

Fellowship is a great church word, but it isn’t one that we use outside of the context of church.  Unless your friends are Christian you don’t invite people to your home for a time of fellowship.  For most of us fellowship is about spending time with other Christians.  Yet, the biblical idea of fellowship is so much more than just being together.
   
The Greek word that is translated fellowship is the word koinonia and according to Strong’s Greek Dictionary it means partnership and participation.  In other words it is an action word and it requires us being involved in other person’s life.  The idea of fellowship isn’t that we make time for “hanging out” but that we do life together.  We are actively involved in the lives of other Christians, and we allow them to be involved in our lives.
   
We miss out on fellowship because we have made fellowship about spending time together, when it really is about being involved with each other.  There is a huge difference.  When we spend time together we can fake it by being friendly and polite.  Being involved in the lives of other people means entering into their lives, accepting them for who they are, loving them, serving them, and encouraging them.  It will require us to be vulnerable as we open our lives up to other people.  Fellowship is risky business.  Not only do we open ourselves up to being hurt, but we are also invited into the problems of other people.  True fellowship is not for the weak of heart.

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