Fellowship

The following comments apply to chapter 22 of Batsell Barrett Baxter's book, The Family of God.  This chapter is all about fellowship, specifically what it means to be in fellowship within the church.

Koinonia, the Greek word for fellowship, is often translated as "partnership," as in a business partnership.  In the New Testament it can mean participation, partnership, sharing, or fellowship.

We all know that we can find different types of fellowship in many places, based on just about anything we can think of.  Often these relationships can fade or turn out to be shallow.  When we come to Christ, we see that the church has a rich fellowship, and we want to take part.

Based on my own experience, I would say that people first approach fellowship in Christ by asking what they can receive from it.  Then, they might progress to asking what they can give to it.  Eventually, they begin to ask how they can grow in their ability to participate.  After some time, they will be thinking about where they stand in relation to the fellowship of Christ, hoping to remain inside of it.

In John 13:34-35 Jesus said that the way people could identify his followers was if they have love for one another.  That statement is very much addressed to the nature of fellowship as a way of life in the church and a way of seeing when the church is what it should be.

The prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-21 is often taught simply as a prayer for unity, but it really points to the need for full fellowhip in the church.  Full fellowship brings unity, and when there are problems with fellowship, unity is at risk.

In Galatians 6:2, Paul sums up the task of fellowship when he says, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."  This is fellowship.  When he says in Galatians 3:28, "You are all one [man] in Christ Jesus," he encourages Christians to get over any form of division within the church, even the circumstantial ones, such as Jew vs. Greek, slave and free, or male and female.

The church was to stand together as one.  If the church is as one man, that man would be a godly man, single-minded in his purpose and character.  In this way unity is essential to fellowship.

In 1 Peter 4:7-8 the apostle uses a phrase that is also used by James, when he encourages church members to be fervent in their love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.  This is a major function of fellowship, because if one member is not all that he or she should be, the fellowship can support that person in working through and overcoming their weaknesses and dealing with sin.

In 1 Corinthians Paul strikes a blow against factions and divisiveness that had arisen in the church.  He does his best to rid the church of it.  He discusses that differences are needed, and that one body part would not say to another that it is not needed or is inferior.  He then goes on to say that love is the most excellent way, going to great lengths to point out that love is more durable than the spiritual gifts that caused such discussion in the church.  He leads the Corinthians to the conclusion that fellowship will save the church from ruin and reach the lost.

Charles Swindoll notes that fellowship included all believers, held them together, and met their needs.  He says that believers today can paddle around near the shore of their relationship with other Christians, or they can venture out into the sea, where the currents are stronger and the risks are greater.  It takes personal sacrifice and involvement to make a true commitment to fellowship, but it is worth the risk.

Author Larry Deason says that for mutual ministry to occur, there must be covenant, community, communion, and commitment, with equality of position and diversity of function.

Fellowship can be nurtured or neglected.  It can be finely tuned to do God's will, or it can be broken.  Baxter notes that there is only one method of discipline for the church to use when fellowship is broken, and that is to withdraw fellowship from one who is in the wrong.  Church discipline is difficult, because it can be hard to know where lines should be drawn in some situations.  Yet, the godly man must take a stand.

Broken fellowship can be the result of individual wrongdoing or doctrinal mishandling by an entire group.  In any such case, the goal of the church is to restore fellowship by helping those in the wrong to see their mistake and ask for forgiveness.  God wants all to come to repentance, and so does the church.  Therefore, if someone is said to have broken fellowship with the church, it is accurate to say that they took themselves out of the fellowship, not that the church would abandon them or their souls.

Despite Paul's efforts to rid Corinth of divisiveness, it is said that the seeds of division planted in those days when the fellowship of the church was broken in several ways have grown up into the many types of churches that teach various things that are opposed to Biblical teaching today.  That draws a sharp focus on love, commitment, and unity for us to consider when talking about fellowship.