Fellowship

A child in Sunday School was once asked to define the word “fellowship.” He pondered for a moment and then replied, “I guess that’s two fellows in a ship.” Actually, that’s not a bad definition. Two fellows in a ship go up and down together on the waves, they face the same storms together, they are headed toward the same destination, and if the boat goes under, they’re both sunk. It doesn’t matter where they came from, what their background is, or when or where they came aboard; they’re both in the same boat now!

The New Testament word for fellowship is koinonia. It comes from the root word koine’, which means “common.” The New Testament was written in koine’ Greek - common Greek, streetGreek - not  educated high-class Greek. Koinonia is “commonality,” the recognition and celebration of the things we share in common as believers in Christ. In our study of Acts, we’ve seen that the early church was hardly a monolithic group. There were many differences that would put pressure on them to separate. There were language differences. Although most people spoke that common Greek at least as a secondary language, the first church in Jerusalem had at least 15 native languages spoken from the Day of Pentecost forward. There were cultural and ethnic differences. Some were Jews. Some were Gentiles, and among the Gentiles in the church, there were Romans, Greeks, Parthians, Samaritans and more. Jews had a deep-seated disdain for Gentiles, and between Jews and Samaritans, there had been ethnic hatred for hundreds of years. There were social differences, with both slaves and free people in the same churches, and economic differences, with all social and economic levels represented. The more the gospel spread geographically and throughout every strata of society, the more the pressure of differences grew, constantly threatening to blow the church apart.

But the church didn’t blow apart. Why not? Part of the reason was persecution. As somebody once put it, when you’re in a foxhole, you don’t care about the social background, racial makeup, or geographical origins of the man next to you; all you care about is that he’s wearing the same uniform and firing in the same direction you are! But the major reason they stuck together despite all their differences was koinonia; the force of commonality was stronger than the pressure of differences. Those early Christians focused on the many things they had in common rather than the many things they didn’t. They didn’t cease to be what they were. Greeks were still Greeks. Jews were still Jews. National origin, native language and skin color didn’t magically change (and despite what one racist once told me, we don’t all become white in heaven, we maintain our racial characteristics there - see Revelation 7:9). But in light of what they had in common in Christ, those issues faded into insignificance.

What did they have in common? Ephesians 4:4-6 tells us: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” One body - the church. One Holy Spirit indwelling all who are in Christ. One hope - the hope of heaven. One calling - the call of the gospel, which all Christians have heard and responded to in repentance and faith. One Lord - the Lord Jesus Christ. We are all His servants, surrendered to Him. One faith - faith in Him as our Lord and Savior whose death on the cross paid the price for our sins. One baptism - symbolizing our faith in what He did on the cross, what He’s done in our lives, and what He’s going to do in the resurrection at His second coming. One God and Father - if we have one Father, that makes us family, brothers and sisters in Christ. Truly, the unifying power of those truths is more powerful than anything that would tend to separate us.

I read a joke online recently about Koi fish. The joke said that Koi fish always travel in groups of four. When faced with a predator, the A Koi, B Koi and C Koi all swim off in different directions, leaving the D Koi (decoy) to face the predator alone. Koi fish may act that way, but koinonia fish don’t. We rejoice with those who rejoice, and we weep with those who weep.

At least we’re supposed to. Most of those who leave the “aquarium” of the church do so because at some point, they’ve faced a predator - an illness, a tough time at home or on the job, a time of grief - and for whatever reason (ignorance, distraction, indifference, fatigue, etc) we swam away instead of gathering around. It shouldn’t happen. But it does. Sometimes in the crush and struggle and hustle and noise of modern life, important things, and important people, fall through cracks. Unfortunately, failure and the ongoing need of forgiveness are more of those characteristics we all seem to share in common.

If it’s happened to you, I pray that you’ll accept my deepest apologies. I pray that you’ll find it in your heart to forgive. I pray that you’ll give us another chance. I pray that we’ll do better next time. I pray that our commonalities will outweigh our failures to live up to our calling as brothers and sisters in Christ. If the hurt is too deep, I pray that you’ll find another “aquarium” that will do better by you. Life’s too short and too fleeting to live it out there alone, apart from the water of life, gasping for air.

Let’s gather together this Sunday as one body to celebrate our common Spirit, our common calling, our common hope, our common faith in our common Lord, our common baptism, our common Father, and our family relationship.

Numbers 6:24-26,
Bro. Donnie