Snapshot of Life Together

1 John 1:7 NIV

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.

How Well Do You Get Along With Others?

When I was in Seminary, studying to be a pastor, I did not really think much about what made a church a church.  I was well aware of the various models of church that were practiced around the world and I did ponder which church model I would like to join.  There are mega-churches with theatrical productions, charismatic churches, traditional churches with older forms of worship, house churches and cell group churches along with multi-site churches that use videos to present the preaching of the pastor.  Of course ethnicity brings even more diversity to how churches function.  It was not until I was confronted by the deacons of the first church where I was a pastor that I gave serious thought as to what made a church a church.  I had made an announcement that the following Sunday during the morning worship service we were going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  This was a major alteration in protocol for this church because always before they conducted the Lord’s Supper on Sunday evenings.  The change in scheduling brought great consternation to the deacons and at first I did not grasp just what bothered them so much.  It turned out that the church did not believe casual attenders of the church services should receive the Lord’s Supper with them, only members of the church were to participate.  It thus was convenient that the service on Sunday night was poorly attended and there almost never were visitors or non-members present.  That was for the deacons a perfect time to serve the Lord’s Supper because it saved them the embarrassment or stress of having to refuse to serve non-members.  Being forced to defend my actions in providing the Supper to non-members, I had to come up with a clear and articulate view of what the Church is and how it is to operate.

One critical term we use to describe the life of the church is “fellowship” or to be more precise, the Greek word “koinonia”.  Koinonia is by definition “communion”, “close relationships” or “participation and sharing”.  Fellowship might be defined as “life together”.  It is oneness brought about by a bond that keeps everyone together.  In 1 John 1: 7, the union is the result of our “walk in the light” or to put it another way, being in union with the wishes of God the Father.  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.  The Christian community, or the Church, is put together into a union by staying in step with what the Father wants and by the purifying work of Christ’s blood as it cleanses the people of the church of Sin.  In other words, it is the relation to the Father and the Son that determines the fellowship or union that exists between the people of the church.

Let’s look at a few snapshots of the Church found in the New Testament.  The first is seen in Matthew 4 where is recorded the invitation Jesus offered to two sets of brothers to come follow Him.  "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19 NIV)  This was not a call to salvation but rather a call to adventure, a call to absolute surrender.  Each of the four fishermen faced a critical fork in the road. 
Do I go with Him in union with the Father or do I stay and keep doing as I am with sporadic moments of faith and devotion.  They chose of course to go with Christ wherever He led.  At once they left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4:20 NIV)  Union with the directing of Christ is what puts Christian people together and really together.

A second snapshot of the Church is seen beautifully in Matthew 14.  The Disciples were sent out by Jesus in a boat to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  By obeying Christ though, the disciples found themselves in deep peril.  After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. (Matthew 14:23-24 NIV)  This is so typical of what happens with the Church in fellowship.  They face some difficult and perhaps even terrifying event together.  In this case, as the Disciples fretted over the growing storm, Jesus came to them, walking on the water and that frightened them even more.  When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. (Matthew 14:26 NIV)  Is that not often the case?  In the midst of unity within the Church, sometimes there is a period of collective chaos when God is not trusted and His ways frightening.  But then God gets ahold of one or more in the fellowship and they have real courage and faith.  "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."  "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. (Matthew 14:28-29 NIV)  When a Church is in fellowship, God always provides someone in the group with clarity and faith enough to see the way.  This is a miracle, a mighty work of God.

There is one more snapshot of the Church that is almost mesmerizing in its sublime rendering of the Church at its finest and most obtuse.  After James, the brother of John, was arrested by King Herod and executed, Peter also was imprisoned.  The church however quickly went to work.  So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.  (Acts 12:5 NIV)  Amazingly, the Lord intervened in a new way.  He sent an angel to the prison who opened the prison doors and led Peter out of the jail.   Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists…Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.  They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. (Acts 12:7, 9-10 NIV)

The account turns somewhat humorous when Peter heads off to the home where the group from the church is praying for Peter’s release.  However after hearing knocking on the door, a servant girl named Rhoda came to see who it was.  When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"  "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."  But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. (Acts 12:14-16 NIV)  So here you have a group of believers praying for the release of one of their own but not really believing God would answer their prayers.  How else would you explain the questioning Rhoda’s sanity when she returns to them with the announcement that Peter himself was at the door?

Let us though not miss the main point.  Fellowship is Christian when the group gathers together to pray.  That is what a Christian group has as its most spectacular possession.  It can pray and change the world.  When fellowship gives up on praying, it loses its soul.  Prayer is the most fundamental characteristic of Christian oneness and if it is cut short or eliminated altogether, it is no different than the unity members of a union possess or the board members of a corporation.  Praying together makes a church a church and gives it the supernatural quality that no other group of people in the world possesses.

There are four specific behaviors that mark Christian fellowship and determine its quality.  We shall simply list these without having the time to give each its proper attention.  Whether the fellowship exists in a small group of three or four or in a large body of several thousand, these patterns of relationship are critical to determining whether or not a church has a healthy fellowship.  These are not listed in any sort of order of importance; each can make or break the life together of a church.  In a truly Christian fellowship there is unlimited forgiveness.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:13 NIV)  The second pattern of relationship is unrelenting encouragement. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV)  Along with these two must be a stubborn refusal to judge those in fellowship.  You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat…Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. (Romans 14:10, 13 NIV)  The fourth pattern of relationship in every healthy Christian fellowship is difficult to quantify…perhaps even impossible to measure but it is just as critical as the others in determining whether or not a church lives together in true fellowship.  Each person sees Christ in all the others and with deep reverence for God respects what Christ is doing in them.  …the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:26-27 NIV)

How important is it that you are a part of a Christian fellowship?  Is it important enough that you will help create an environment that can make fellowship flourish?  Are you willing to change your own attitudes about life together so that God can use you to transform the church and make it the “Kingdom of God”?  What sacrifices are you willing to make that Christ can live through you and make His people better because you are a part of their lives?