As Was His Custom: Fellowship Part 2
Two women smiling and setting table with salad and charcuterie board
In Part 1 of this article, we focused on the marvel of God’s gift to us in His Son, Jesus, in restoring us in relationship with Him in unadulterated fellowship. This gift is not only for eternity but for the here and now as we encounter God through the gift of fellowship in our everyday lives.
Why Fellowship (with God and Others) Matters
The message is that Jesus came to make a life of fellowship with God not only possible, but wholly accessible; we are, in Him, fully known, fully accepted, and we fully belong. Jesus, incarnate God, truly came to earth for one mission: to close the gap between us and God, making life with Him in an “across the table” way available to each of us.
Just as Jesus enjoyed fellowship with the Father, He offers the same to each of us. It is more than simply association. It is more than gathering or knowing. It is a sharing, a participation, into all that God is and all that He has as we interweave our lives with His. Fellowship is partaking with the God of the Universe, who through His Son Jesus made it possible for us to receive beyond our comprehension the fullness of who He is. For eternity.
“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
The fellowship we share with God the Father through Jesus carries a sustaining power in our lives. Yet, when we don’t come wholeheartedly to the table with Jesus, we may miss the power of this precious fellowship. True koinonia fellowship with God requires active participation, both with Him and with His body, the Church.
How Can We Follow Jesus In This Way?
“Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:11-14
“I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing (koinonia) of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.” Philemon 1:4-6
While the gift of salvation is certainly a personal decision one makes individually, the restoration of fellowship with God opens up the gift of fellowship with His church. Eugene Peterson refers to our association with and participation in the body, the church, as “part of the fabric of redemption.”[3] We can’t separate our fellowship with God from our fellowship with other believers and truly experience the fullness of what Jesus offers. They are inextricably tied, and it is within the context of common fellowship that we experience the fullness of what Jesus came to bring, in community with his Body: His imperfect, beautiful, messy, and beloved Church. We see the early Church experiencing this same fellowship: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”[4]
I’ve experienced both the immense joy and blessing of fellowship within the church, and have also experienced the pain of leaders who mislead, relationships that are hurtful, and seemingly irreconcilable differences that can occur within our faith communities. In a lifetime of participating in the body of Christ, I’ve seen the full spectrum. I grieve over those who have been unable to reconcile their faith due to the actions of the Church, and I grieve over the times I, too, have responded poorly, without love, to those within the body. And yet, in the midst of such imperfection and brokenness, the Church prevails; I see the vision that Jesus had for His Church – the gift that God the Father has given us in each other – a true reflection of the fellowship Jesus has with the Father, and the gift we have in fellowship with Him. I have seen and experienced the immense joy and blessing of walking in fellowship and participation with the body of Christ; it is through such relationships I’ve been able to comprehend more fully the gift of God’s grace through this participation in the Spirit. This is what Jesus modeled for us in His time on earth.
We, the Body of Christ, get the privilege of being the expression of Christ to one another in the world in which we live. We were meant, during the time between Jesus’ ascension and his return, to hold carefully this gift of His Body, to align together in fellowship (share/participation) with each other in the living out of the Gospel, the Good News that Jesus came to deliver. We are His instruments of hope in a lost and fallen world, meant to express that hope through the fellowship we share in Him.
David Kim, in his work Made to Belong, writes of koinonia/fellowship that it “conveys an active, dynamic participation in relationships, a sharing and giving of ourselves.” [5] This is how we experience the fullness of koinonia: we show up and invest fully in our life in Christ and our life with other believers. We keep coming to the table, keep working through the hard, and keep encountering one another towards a common goal: to advance God’s Kingdom on earth, as it is in Heaven. We learn to “step out of our comfort zone and self-serving posture and move toward community and communion by serving and meeting the needs of others.”[6] Until that day when He returns to collect His church, Jesus has called us to this very task.
Bonhoeffer, in his work Life Together, writes,
“When God had mercy on us, when God revealed Jesus Christ to us as our brother, when God won our hearts by God’s own love, our instruction in Christian love began at the same time. When God was merciful to us, we learned to be merciful with one another. When we received forgiveness instead of judgment, we too were made ready to forgive each other. What God did to us, we then owed to others. The more we received, the more we were able to give; and the more meager our love for one another, the less we were living by God’s mercy and love. Thus God taught us to encounter one another as God has encountered us in Christ.”
It is in this space that we experience the fullness of who God is in fellowship with one another and see the reflection of God’s goodness in the lives of those around us as He works in us His miracle of grace.
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”[7] Jesus intended for His church to be the “light” of the world through our koinonia with one another; we reflect the gift of fellowship with God offered through salvation in Him, that others may see and understand this fellowship with God is wholly offered to them through His gift of grace. And that is what we are called to do – to help the world understand and see that God has made Himself available to each and every one of us in an “across the table” way, to encounter Him fully!
To experience this dynamic encounter through the Body of Christ, my encouragement to you is this: show up. And keep showing up with not only your physical presence but also your heart. If the blessing of community is not readily available to you, ask God to help you know where to start. This gift of fellowship- it is His idea. I have no doubt He will respond with abundant provision.
May we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, be faithful to emulate Jesus’ example and invest in, participate fully, and share in the fellowship of the believers until he returns for His Body, and make His name great to a world in dire need of His goodness.
Additional Scriptures for Reflection:
“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” John 17:11
“If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:6-7
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Cor 13:14
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25
“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Romans 1:11-12
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” 1 Cor. 12:12-13
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Philippians 1:3-5
“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” Philippians 2:1-2
“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” Psalm 133
