FELLOWSHIP
Sooner is better than later. Recently I mentioned to you that I would write an article on fellowship and the more I thought about it the more I said to myself, do it now. Understanding fellowship is important, not only to be informed, but also an understanding of the meaning of fellowship might cause one to think about other areas. One thing is for certain, we are going to be in Heaven with all the believers we personally know today and all the others in prior times and all the others that we don’t know. Certainly this is an awesome thought. An interesting and most exciting thought just occurred to me about the story of the rich man who had everything in life, and Lazarus who was a beggar and lay at the rich man’s gate. They both died and the rich man went to hell and Lazarus went to Abraham’s side. The rich man saw Lazarus and Abraham but he was separated from them by a great chasm, and he wanted Abraham to send Lazarus over to him with some water to cool his tongue because he was in agony. The reason I mention this story is the fact that he recognized Abraham whom he had never seen before; there are other instances in the Bible that mention people who never knew each other actually recognize others. Let me get back to fellowship.
Let’s examine what fellowship isn’t and then we will discover what Biblical fellowship is; the way God wants it to be, that is. It is not just going to services and giving lip service to those with whom we come in contact. It is not meeting other believers for breakfast after services and discussing golf or football or whatever. It is not sitting next to someone without recognizing them or saying hello.
No, quite the contrary, to fellowship is to experience, yes to EXPERIENCE relationships with other believers. Fellowship is coming together with other believers who have something in common; Jesus. It is getting involved with other believers and sharing your heart with each other. When one reads 1st Corinthians 12:12-31, a clear understanding begins to replace misunderstanding or confusion or simply ignorance. Paul uses the human body in analogous terms. Each member of our body is vital to the next and each part wonderfully compliments the next. For example, the big toe is small and insignificant when compared to the whole body, but try walking without it. Your balance is shaky and you will have difficulty staying steady. Therefore, as we look at each other we should keep in mind how important the other person could be to the whole body of believers. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you,’ quite the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are very necessary; see 1st Corinthians 12:22, “On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable…”
Some time ago the pastor in our local church group expounded on this very subject and I must say he did a very wonderful job of it, so good that I am going to share his thoughts with you. When I say his thoughts, I mean the Bible coming to life. This is the reason Bunny and I have attended. His sermons are actually Bible studies, pure and simple. People are taught the word of God in every service.
He presented four levels of fellowship:
Level 1 is choosing to belong. Ephesians 2:19 says “you are members of God’s very own family…” and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian. Romans 12:5 states, “In Christ we who are many form one body and each member belongs to all the others.”
Level 2 is learning to share. In Acts 2:44…”all the believers met together constantly and shared everything with each other.” (We should remind ourselves occasionally that what we think we own, we do not, it all belongs to the Lord). It is much easier to share when we understand the meaning of sharing. I do believe that we would all admit that it is much easier to give away someone else’s property. This is what we do when we give in Jesus’ name. 1st Peter says in essence, “open your homes to each other.” God opened His home to us in Jesus when He gave up the Spirit on the cross. We should be ready to share each other’s troubles and problems. Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
Level 3 is doing my part. 1st Corinthians 3:9 says, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” Ephesians 4:16 says, “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ This is such an inspiring and encouraging verse of Scripture, imagine, helping each other is the same as helping Jesus. WOW!
Level 4 is to love believers as though they were your own flesh and blood (As God loves us). This is not an easy task, it takes effort and constant vigilance, however we can try. It will be easier if we remember to ask the Lord to help us love as He loves us. The Holy Spirit is always with us and ready to help; just ask. Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” Romans 12:10 says, “Be devoted to each other in brotherly love.” 1 John 3:16 ”We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” John 13:35 says, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Last but not least is Galatians 3:26, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
My prayer is that we all look to our brothers and sisters who are in Christ as family. This is what God wants and it makes Him happy. It will make us feel good, too.
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