As we continue working our way through the practical side of church ministry, we have already looked at corporate prayer and intercession, which are foundational to the life of the church. As we read in Acts 2, following the day of Pentecost:

“So those who received (Peter’s) word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

^{Acts 2:41-42}

When the church began, and thousands of new believers were added, the first thing Luke (the author of Acts) wants us to know is that there was great unity among them. They joined together around the Word of God (a topic we will get to in a few weeks), fellowship and sharing meals, and the prayers (which we have already looked at).

Today, we will turn our attention to biblical “fellowship,” as this word means something much different than the average 21st-century understanding demonstrates.

What is Fellowship

In Acts 2:42, the Greek word for fellowship is “koinonia.” If you have been around church very much, this is likely a word you have heard thrown around at various times when discussing an upcoming fellowship event, such as a church luncheon or a men’s meeting. 

Usually, when we use the word fellowship, we imply a social gathering of believers. So we tell people, “make sure you get to church early, to have a time of fellowship before the service.” We encourage people to join a cell group or a Sunday school class, not only for the teaching but for fellowship. The idea being promoted is that if we are going to be believers together in the same “church,” then we need to take time to make friends with one another.

Can Friendship Be Forced?

The problem with many “fellowship” activities planned by church leaders is that they don’t always work the way we hope. Of course, we desire that believers would come to know one another deeply. However, when everyone comes together, people tend to sit with their family or existing friends instead of getting to know others. Even when we do mingle with people we don’t know, our “small talk” is usually very shallow and limited.

I don’t mean to imply that we must know every person deeply. Even if it were possible, it goes against our natural human inclinations. Most people would rather have a small group of people they know well, trust, and can be vulnerable around. It isn’t natural to fully expose our inward self to the masses. And that is okay.

Even as a senior ministry leader, myself, responsible for thousands of believers in the Sozo Ministries network of churches, I still tend toward introversion and take a long time to build deep friendships. I don’t necessarily want to have an intimate relationship with every person I meet just because they are Christian, and that is fine.

But the question is, then, what is the goal of fellowship, if not to be friends with everyone in our church?

The Foundation of Fellowship

The first answer is that true, biblical koinonia is grounded on our shared faith in Jesus Christ. It is “unity of faith” that the New Testament writers point to as the thing that holds us together as a body.

“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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 cleanses us from all sin.” 

^{1 John 1:6-7 (emphasis mine)}

According to John, we cannot have fellowship with one another unless we all walk in the light with Jesus Christ. He is our first partner in fellowship. As the head of the church, He is the one we seek intimacy with, which opens the door to intimacy within His body. Just look at how the Apostle Paul speaks of this relationship toward Jesus and one another in his letter to the Corinthians:

“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 (emphasis mine)}

Not only were you called into fellowship “with” Jesus Christ, but you were placed in the fellowship “of” Jesus Christ – that is with the community of believers who are with Him as well!

Fellowship in Unity

This means that when we come together as the body of Christ, we are not gathering because we are all friends with one another. Instead, we are gathering because we are all friends of Jesus, and together we can make more of our relationship with Him!

Think about it like this: have you ever been invited to a birthday party for a friend, only to arrive at the venue and discover you don’t know any of the other guests? I’m sure you didn’t turn around and leave just because your friend has made other friends throughout their life. Instead, I’ll bet you joined the party, met a few new people, and took part in celebrating the birthday boy or girl’s life together. 

Every conversation you had with the other guests would be centered on this unity of celebrating your mutual friend: “How did you meet our friend?” “When did you meet them? “What stories can you tell me that I don’t know about our friend?” This is precisely what unity around Jesus looks like as well. 

As we come together in fellowship as the church, we gather to celebrate our mutual friend, Jesus. We may not be friends with everyone in the room — in fact, we may not know another person there at all. That doesn’t matter because He is the focus. As we look at Him, discuss Him, sing to Him, share stories (testimonies) about Him, etc., the unity built among everyone in the room will be tangible. Unity in our love for Him is the foundation of our fellowship.

The Extention of Fellowship

I know as some of you read this, you are getting frustrated with me. Sure, we might not be capable of being friends with everyone in our church, but shouldn’t we at least try? Isn’t living as part of the faith community important?

The answer is yes, being a part of the community is very important. But, it isn’t the foundation. What I mean is that we should never encourage people to join our church “for community.” We are not a social club. We are the fellowship of Jesus Christ. Knowing Him is the foundation for which we gather in koinonia.

However, the extension of our fellowship becomes love for one another as we see Jesus’ love for each other. As the Apostle John tells us:

“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” 

^{1 John 4:19-21}

I love verse 19! “We love because He first loved us.” Love for others is an extension of our fellowship with Him. As we live in intimacy with Him, the Bible tells us we become like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 3:2), and therefore, we begin to love others just as he loves them.

The Fruit of the Spirit

One biblical evidence that we are transforming into the image of Christ is that “the fruit of the Holy Spirit” will shape us and be demonstrated through our lives.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” 

^{Galatians 5:22-23}

What is interesting about this list is that we cannot demonstrate any of these fruits outside of a relationship with others. 

• Love must be shown to others. 
• Joy, in the Greek understanding, is the publicly shared celebration of gladness. Although we might be joyful in ourselves, the fruit of joy comes when it is shared. 
• Peace, again in the Greek understanding, means a cease to war. It is peace among people or harmony between parties who might otherwise be opposed to one another.
• Patience and kindness are attitudes expressed toward others.
• Goodness simply means we set our mind toward the public good in all things.
• Faithfulness deals with both our commitment to faith in God, as well as our trustworthiness. As we live by faith in Christ, other people should be able to trust our integrity when they meet us.
• Gentleness, again, is demonstrated in how we interact with people.
• Self-control simply means keeping a level head and restraining our passions, sinful desires, and extreme emotions. Again, this ability to discipline ourselves is best demonstrated in our public life.

As a friend recently pointed out to me, many of these “fruit” are also mentioned in “the love passage” of the Bible:

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 

^{1 Corinthians 13:4–7}

The point is that the character of Christ, which is formed in us through fellowship with Him, is outwardly demonstrated in our love for other people. Thus, love is the extension of our fellowship.

The Expression of Fellowship

If fellowship is founded on our unity in Christ and is extended as our love for others conforms to His love, then there must be a tangible expression of that fellowship when we come together as the body of Christ. 

How are Jesus’ work in us and His love coming through us demonstrated in the church? Biblically, it was shown in the valuing of people over possessions. As Craig Keener writes in his book, Gift and Giver:

“Besides the numerical growth of the Christian community, the community grew in its cohesiveness through the believers’ commitment to one another. The Greek term for “fellowship” (Acts 2:42) could mean economic sharing as well as spending time together. When we go out to dinner with friends from our church, we often think we are doing well; and to be sure, such fellowship is better than the isolation many churchgoers feel today. But the first Christians were far more serious about fellowship in the biblical sense than we are. The believers “shared all things in common” (Acts 2:44).”¹

Giving 100% In The Offering

Now, we must understand that this sharing of all things literally meant all of their worldly possessions.

“And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” 

^{Acts 2:44-45}

Remember, this was also centered in Jerusalem, the capital city of conquered Israel. The Roman Empire was taxing the average person at 90% of their income! “Selling their possession and belongings” wasn’t a believer deciding to give up a second television for the family or forego a new vehicle this year in order to tithe a little more. This meant taking the last 10% of their income (after the government took everything else) and still putting it into the offering plate at church. The expression of their fellowship meant keeping nothing for themselves, and in turn, trusting that the local community of faith would take care of them.

The love for others, created through their unity with Christ, inspired them to give all they had for each other. Unfortunately, this is a level of “fellowship” not seen in most of our churches today.

Love Feasts

Another expression of their fellowship came in “the breaking of bread” together, as they “received their food with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:46). These large communal meals became known as “agape feasts” or “love meals” and were an everyday part of the early church’s life. Sometimes they were coupled with taking communion (another part of celebrating Jesus together, which we will discuss in a future post). Other times, they were simply about sharing a meal as the family of God.

Because people had given everything they had to the church, it bound them to life together with other believers. Even if they were not friends with everyone in the church, there was a commitment to one another that went deeper than most family ties would today.

Things were not always perfect at these love feasts. For example, in Acts 6:1-7, we see that some groups within the church felt excluded by other groups and that the shared food was not being fairly distributed. However, the church leaders were quick to fix the issue, so that fellowship would not be broken. In fact, as much as we elevate deacons in the church today, the first deacons in the church were tasked with serving tables to ensure that the fellowship was maintained. 

Another issue can be seen in Jude 12 concerning false spiritual leaders taking advantage of these love feasts. Nevertheless, love feasts continued as part of the life of the church for centuries.²

Creating Fellowship Today

The challenge we have today is that our world is entirely different from that of the early church 2000 years ago. Whereas the early church was limited by their location — there was no mass transit or mass communication — globalization has given us unending access to everything at any time. With the internet, I have access to all earthly knowledge in seconds. With YouTube tutorials, I can learn any skill I want. With modern transportation, I can be anywhere in the world in 48 hours or less.

Naturally, this access has shifted the focus of most modern individuals far beyond life in our local communities. Even as I write these words, I am continuously aware they will be read by believers all over the world — in the U.S., Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East — many of whom do not share my cultural background. (I still don’t have a noticeable readership in South America or Australia, but maybe one day.)

As society’s focus has moved beyond the ties of physical location, the church is faced with a new set of challenges that the early church did not have. If our people live globally, how do we ground them with a fellowship locally?

I think the answer lies in returning to the foundation. We must lift up Jesus in our lives and seek to build relationships with others around Him. (And I mean face-to-face relationships, not online.) Of course, this will require a willingness to share our faith with unbelievers in personal evangelism. More than that, however, it requires a willingness to put ourselves out there and be vulnerable with other believers. We will never see a thriving local fellowship until we lead the way ourselves.

Let’s Get Practical

Inherent inside every Christian believer is a desire to be part of the body of Christ. As His character is developed in us and as the Holy Spirit releases gifts for service through us, the desire for fellowship is natural. Therefore, as leaders in the church, we must simply follow the process of Unity -> Love -> Expression to create a true biblical fellowship in our churches.

1. Celebrate Jesus

Any time the body of Christ comes together, we must make Jesus central.

Of course, we need to take time to greet our visitors and do other social things as the church. However, our primary focus must remain Jesus. Preach Jesus. Talk about Jesus. Share testimonies of what Jesus is doing. Invite people to know Jesus deeper.

We may never all become best friends, but we can all live in unity around Him. If the focus of the church ever leaves Him, true fellowship will be broken.

2. Encourage Love

As we lift up Jesus, we also aim to disciple people into His image. While the process of sanctification will take place internally in the lives of believers, as leaders, we ought to create opportunities for the fruit and gifts of the Spirit to be demonstrated externally.

Make room in your service for people to serve one another. Give time for those who have discovered their spiritual gifts to use them (and give opportunity for those who have not yet discovered their gifts to seek the Holy Spirit and try something).

I remember the first time I visited a friend’s church in college. When we arrived, I met the pastor, who asked me about my story and why I chose to come that night. Then, as if I belonged to the church already, he asked if I would help serve drinks to people as they arrived. I no longer felt like just a visitor because I had a job to do, serving everyone else who would come. Though it was a small act, it invited me to become part of the fellowship the church had been building for years.

3. Facilitate Corporate Expressions of Fellowship

For the early church, giving generously to the community and joining together in love feasts became regular and expected expressions of fellowship. Though these things can and should be part of our modern-day practice as well, I would also encourage you to consider your own church and see what other “expressions” of fellowship you can maintain regularly to keep people engaging with one another. 

What can you do as a church that will give people the opportunity to gather in unity around Jesus and serve one another at the same time? Though I could give many examples in my own cultural context, I will leave this as an open-ended question for you to ponder for yourself.

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Endnotes

¹ Craig S. Keener, Gift & Giver: The Holy Spirit for Today, Repackaged Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020), 85.

² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agape_feast

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© Anthony Scott Ingram 2021. All Rights Reserved.

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