[Faith-talk] Why fellowship matters

[WESLEY BURDEN]

Why Fellowship Matters
I am a firm believer in the sufficiency of Christ (John 16:13, Philippians
4:13) and in the sufficiency of His Word (John 17:17) such that even a
believer isolated on a remote island (such as the apostle John) could still
be comforted, encouraged, and enabled to grow in Christ. However, the
Scripture does not in anyway advocate "lone ranger" Christianity. God's
desire is quite the opposite, in fact. His plan and purpose for building His
kingdom is a corporate purpose (Ephesians 4:1-16). Granted, it is
accomplished by individual believers who are held accountable before God for
their individual roles of stewardship.
However, God's desire is that believers team up as the body of Christ to do
His work.

The idea and essence of the church implies a sharing of lives, resources,
encouragement, comfort, etc. Acts 2:44-47 says, "And all those who had
believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling
their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone
might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and
breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together
with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all
the people and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were
being saved." The church had true fellowship, being a spiritual family whose
head was Christ (Ephesians 4:15). As they studied the Word together, prayed
together, and shared meals together, not neglecting the needs of any brother
or sister, they enjoyed God's plan of fellowship. This kept their focus
right, their passion for the Lord fervent, and their growth in Christ
stimulated. Hebrews
10:24-25 says, "And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and
good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of
some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day
drawing near." This passage correlates assembling together with other
believers with stimulating or provoking one another to love and good deeds.
Some believers were neglecting corporate worship, perhaps even choosing to
isolate themselves from other believers in general. This was not a healthy
trend, and God's instructions were to get together, study the Word, pray,
and encourage one another so that love would not grow cold and good works
would be accomplished so that the glory of God could be seen (Matthew 5:16).
Without true Christian fellowship, we are prone to coast along in our walk,
we might miss out on opportunities to serve, and we are left to go without
the unbiased instruction of Spirit-led preaching to our hearts. The absence
of fellowship makes the Christian life much more di! fficult.

It is important to note that fellowship is not something that can be gained
merely by attending a service by a Christian denomination somewhere
sometime.
It is not achieved by merely sharing a meal or being added to a membership
list. Fellowship is a true sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, true family
joined by the blood of Christ. At its root it is thus a spiritual reality
united by the Holy Spirit and founded by a belief in the truth of Scripture.
When the Spirit lives within another person's heart such that that person is
continually guided into all truth (John 16:13), true fellowship can be
enjoyed.

It should be emphasized that fellowship is exclusively Christian. It is not
something the world can possess or know. They might have their clubs,
societies, groups, fraternities, gangs, or associations, but they cannot
experience fellowship. This is because the world does not know the love of
Christ, without which there can be no fellowship. They are still in
darkness, and only those in the Light can have fellowship with others in the
Light
(1 John 1:7). Only
with Christ is true love (John 13:34-35) and true unity (John 17:21)
possible.

Yet even in the church fellowship that could be enjoyed with true believers
can be undermined. We still need to work by faith on some things to keep
fellowship as it ought to be. First, there needs to be authenticity. 
Authenticity is being real, genuine, not deceiving, not wearing a mask to
church, and being open and vulnerable as wisdom and discernment allow. When
people pretend, go through the motions, and hide their true selves and
desires, dangerous and dark deceptions can emerge. This undermines
fellowship and its benefits. 
Second, there needs to be a spirit of grace. There should be no
judgmentalism, partiality, merit-based love, or a refusal to forgive a truly
repentant brother or sister. "Holier than thou" thinking makes people feel
unsafe to seek the help, counsel, and encouragement that they need, thus
undermining fellowship. Third, there needs to be a corporate uncompromising
pursuit of the truth. It is important to grow to "attain to the unity of the
faith" rather than be "carried about by every wind of doctrine" (Ephesians
4:13-14). Doctrine has a unifying effect on the church, and the church must
be willing to continue to be guided by the Spirit into all truth in order
for unity to increase. 
Taking an approach
that resignedly accepts diverse doctrinal viewpoints in an attempt to
preserve unity is Scripturally counterproductive. We need to be gracious and
patient with each other when we disagree, and we can trust that if we let
the Spirit teach us, that ultimately we will come to the same truth. The
Holy Spirit doesn't lead to two different doctrinal places. This relentless
pursuit of truth is utterly essential to vibrant fellowship.

Let us not forget that we are the body of Christ, with each of us having a
part to play (1 Corinthians 12:14-27). It is only when these individual
parts work in concert with one another that the church maximizes its
testimony and effectiveness. Fellowship is critical to each believer's
growth and to the church's overall mission in the world. May God give us
people to enjoy fellowship with, and may He deepen and purify fellowship in
His churches. It is something we as believers desperately need and something
the world desperately needs to see.


Stu
<mailto:K5stu at sbcglobal.net>K5stu at sbcglobal.net
Reading your Bible today will help prepare you for A Brighter Tomorrow!
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