When believers get together, what should be the topic of conversation? (Jesus, as much as possible!) Is it real fellowship when they just talk sports or the weather or news events? [N.B. I am not referring to fellowship with the Father and the Son, but fellow brethren.] Genuine fellowship (from the Greek word koinonia which means having something in common: Christians have Christ, a mission, ministries, purposes, the Bible, etc. in common) which is two fellows in the same ship, as it were facetiously, is when honesty, authenticity, and real sharing takes place in the name of the Lord ("For when two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them," reads Matthew 18:20). Sometimes it involves confession or empathizing and/or sympathizing. Consoling each other as an example is fellowship (we are comforted so that we can comfort others--2 Cor. 1:20), but that can even take place even among nonbelievers in a technical sense.
There is fellowship, and then there is fellowship. What we ought to have in common is not the weather or our team, but our Lord. Is the Spirit of the Lord present is all that matters, and if you have discernment in the Spirit you should be able to tell if the Holy Spirit shows up or is a "no-show" to your fellowship. Sometimes all it takes is the mention of His name because He is not far from each of us and is in us already.
But we stifle the Spirit and hamper His free expression and quench His presence by our conversation--we need to be sensitive to what is pleasing in His sight (cf. Psa. 19:14). The Spirit does not lie, exaggerate, jest, or tease, etc., but is full of love and that is the key to His presence in essence--Christians love the brethren, and His Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are the Sons of God. The believers will know if they had fellowship, but an outsider would not be able to judge or discern, for he is unaware of spiritual things and blind spiritually.
There is no limit as to how far we can go into the realm of the Spirit if we but open the door and be willing to confess Him before man and be open and free in our spirit ("Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,' says 2 Cor. 3:17). When we are having fellowship, we are equal in God's eyes and there is neither Greek nor barbarian, slave nor free, male nor female, etc. Rank has its privileges, but not in Christ--we kiss our social position goodbye. There is often a so-called esprit de corps of the Holy Spirit, you might say. The possibilities are limitless and sometimes even ecstasy and euphoria are possible, as well as the other extreme end of the spectrum which is grief--some people don't feel they are really friends till they have cried together, not laughed together.
In summation, we must differentiate between surface-level chitchat and real genuine fellowship, which is not a given, even among believers--they may be out of fellowship with God. We must put Christ into it or be inspired or led by Him in our conversation. We share our walk and can relate to each other as to how we are doing, which is also key; but NB: There is no fellowship (in my interpretation of Scripture) with an unbeliever: "For what does light have in common with darkness? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?" (2 Cor. 6:14-15). Soli Deo Gloria!
There is fellowship, and then there is fellowship. What we ought to have in common is not the weather or our team, but our Lord. Is the Spirit of the Lord present is all that matters, and if you have discernment in the Spirit you should be able to tell if the Holy Spirit shows up or is a "no-show" to your fellowship. Sometimes all it takes is the mention of His name because He is not far from each of us and is in us already.
But we stifle the Spirit and hamper His free expression and quench His presence by our conversation--we need to be sensitive to what is pleasing in His sight (cf. Psa. 19:14). The Spirit does not lie, exaggerate, jest, or tease, etc., but is full of love and that is the key to His presence in essence--Christians love the brethren, and His Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are the Sons of God. The believers will know if they had fellowship, but an outsider would not be able to judge or discern, for he is unaware of spiritual things and blind spiritually.
There is no limit as to how far we can go into the realm of the Spirit if we but open the door and be willing to confess Him before man and be open and free in our spirit ("Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,' says 2 Cor. 3:17). When we are having fellowship, we are equal in God's eyes and there is neither Greek nor barbarian, slave nor free, male nor female, etc. Rank has its privileges, but not in Christ--we kiss our social position goodbye. There is often a so-called esprit de corps of the Holy Spirit, you might say. The possibilities are limitless and sometimes even ecstasy and euphoria are possible, as well as the other extreme end of the spectrum which is grief--some people don't feel they are really friends till they have cried together, not laughed together.
In summation, we must differentiate between surface-level chitchat and real genuine fellowship, which is not a given, even among believers--they may be out of fellowship with God. We must put Christ into it or be inspired or led by Him in our conversation. We share our walk and can relate to each other as to how we are doing, which is also key; but NB: There is no fellowship (in my interpretation of Scripture) with an unbeliever: "For what does light have in common with darkness? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?" (2 Cor. 6:14-15). Soli Deo Gloria!
We can have companionship or friendship with nonbelievers and a limited form of fellowship, which is in our testimony and witness, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, but their is no genuine, spiritual fellowship with them, because they are dead spiritually and cannot be aware of spiritual things. "The man of the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned ... But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:14,16).
ReplyDeleteWe have many buzzwords for fellowship: touching base, keeping in touch, being on the same page, camaraderie, and esprit de corps, et al. But we mean what only Christians can have when applied to our communion in the Spirit.
ReplyDeleteThe w'orthe word fellowship is Miss to find in our culture and you have followed the typical miss definition. Greek word actually does not mean friendship ever hanging out together we're praying for each other or sharing with one another. These things are very important of course but they're not what it means to fellowship. Rather fellowship mean something like joint venture co-owner two people that share a stake in the common enterprise two people in the same mission two people doing service together in the same unit. It's not about caring and sharing it's not bhas for his own with an attitude that an owner has for his own business. You can see this clearly if you trace Greek word throughout the New Testament and see the variety of ways and has been translated and a variety of context in which its been used. For example the Philippines and fellowship with their financial contributions not by sharing and caring. Again, sharing and caring is important don't misunderstand but its not fellowship.
ReplyDeleteforgive my many typos above this results from using voice recognition software. I hope you get the point even though its type so poorly
DeleteFellowship is so much more than sharing something in common, since unbelievers can duplicate that. But this is a necessary constituent of it and there can be no fellowship if there is nothing in common or nothing shared.
DeleteThere must be a rapport to have fellowship, whatever level. Two people in tune to the same note will be in tune with each other. Sometimes Christians march to the beat of a different drum, though.
ReplyDelete