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Introduction:
There is no doubt “fellowship” is a biblical word and it is a
biblical injunction. We are supposed to have fellowship and be in
fellowship. Today, however, we hear the word “fellowship,”
even from Christians, in areas where the Bible never used the
concept. Churches build halls to house meals and other social
gatherings and call them fellowship halls. Christians get together
to play basketball, softball or even ultimate Frisbee and call it
fellowship. Christians gather for a meal and someone inevitably
thanks God for the time of fellowship we are having. God, however,
never once used the concept of Christian fellowship to describe
any of these things.
The English word “fellowship” comes from the Old
English and Norse words that literally mean “one who lays down
money in a joint enterprise” (Oxford English Dictionary). The
English word and the Greek words it translates carry the idea of
joint participation. That being said, I understand that
“fellowship” and the words it translates are not solely
spiritual words. They have a secular meaning and can accurately be
used in those ways. If you and I are playing a game together,
eating a meal together or just sitting in the same building
somewhere, then there is a sense of fellowship, joint
participation, that we do have in that. However, modern religion
and even more and more Christians are missing what God has asked
of us spiritually when it comes to fellowship with one another. We
see the word “fellowship” in the Bible, then we hear people
call eating together a form of fellowship and think because we
have eaten together we have done what God has asked. That is just
not true. For just a few moments, let’s examine how the New
Testament uses the concept of fellowship. The New Testament uses
six words in the same family related to the concept of
fellowship—koinonia
(19 times), koinonos (10
times), koinoneo (8
times), sunkoinoneo (3 times),
koinonikos (1 time),
metoche (1 time). Altogether, these words are used 42 times in
the New Testament, translated in various ways. However, there are
basically four headings under which the words for fellowship are
used. Let’s look at those and see what God has asked of us
regarding fellowship. I am going to go ahead and let the cat out
of the bag. Notice very carefully as we look at these that never
once does the New Testament refer to eating together or being
together socially as fellowship. Discussion: I.
Sharing in similarities A.
Fellowship is used to describe sharing similar qualities.
For instance, Hebrews
2:14 speaks of God’s children sharing in flesh and
blood. B.
I
John 1:3-7
uses this same concept on a spiritual level. When we share the
quality of walking in the light, we have fellowship with the
apostles, the Father, the Son and with everyone else who walks in
the light. However, if we walk in darkness we do not share this
quality and we have no fellowship with the apostles, the Father,
the Son or those who walk in the light. C.
If I understand II
Corinthians 13:14 correctly, it demonstrates this same
kind of similarity. If we are in the Holy Spirit, that is, if we
are following His words and submitting to His will we all share in
that quality of being in the Spirit. We have a fellowship with one
another and the Spirit. D.
Philemon
6
provides an interesting illustration of this principle. Paul
talked about Philemon sharing his faith. As Philemon teaches
others about his faith and produces that same faith in them, they
share the quality of faith and have fellowship through that. II.
Working partners A.
This concept probably most aligns with the etymology of our
English word “fellowship,” that is, “one who lays down money
in a joint enterprise.” The New Testament speaks of those who
work together on a project as partners in fellowship with one
another. B.
This is seen in secular work in Luke
5:10. Peter, Andrew, James and John were partners in their
fishing business. Thus, they were in fellowship. Even though the
Bible recognizes this secular use, we must not think the
fellowship God wants from us spiritually is a business
relationship. Rather, this use merely demonstrates the meaning of
the word itself. C.
Paul used this in a spiritual sense to talk about those who
were working partners in the gospel. In II
Corinthians 8:23 he described Titus as his partner and
fellow worker. In Philemon
17, Paul used the same concept to talk about his
relationship with Philemon. III.
Joint participation in an activity A.
This third heading is really a modification of the last.
When people participated jointly in some activity, they were
considered in fellowship. That is, they were considered partners
in that work. Sometimes this was a good thing; sometimes a bad
thing. B.
In Philippians
1:5; 4:15, Paul described the fellowship he had with the
Philippian church because of their material support of his
preaching. Even though they were not traveling as partners like
Paul and Titus, they were partners in the work. C.
In I
Corinthians 10:16, we see the only time the New Testament
relates fellowship to eating. The Lord’s Supper is a sharing or
fellowship in the body and blood of the Lord. Because we all share
in the one bread, we are one body. D.
This concept is used to also describe the fellowship we
have with Jesus, the apostles and each other when we participate
in the same suffering for being Christians. II
Corinthians 1:7; Hebrews 10:33; I Peter 4:13 all speak of
the sharing of suffering in which Christians participate. When we
endure persecution we are in fellowship with all those who have
suffered for the sake of Christ. We are in fellowship with Christ
Himself who suffered. E.
Not all joint participation is good. In I
Corinthians 10:18-20, Paul was concerned about the
Christians who had come out of paganism who still ate at the
idols’ temples. When they ate in the temples of idols they were
in fellowship with demons and idolatrous altars. Then we see Ephesians
5:11; I Timothy 5:22; II John 11 and Revelation
18:4 that speak
of taking part in sins with others or being in fellowship with
their sin. We must not have this fellowship. IV.
Helping those in need A.
One of the forms of fellowship in the New Testament that I
doubt many of us ever think of as fellowship is in helping those
in need. When we provide materially, through money, food, clothes
or in some other way, we are in fellowship or are sharing with
them. B.
Consider Romans
15:26; Galatians 6:6 and I Timothy 6:18. All
of these have to do with sharing our goods with others in need.
When we take food to those who are ill or grieving, when we
provide clothes for those who are destitute, when we provide
material assistance to those in need, we are having a sense of
fellowship with them. V.
Applications A.
We
must take care what we call fellowship.
As I said earlier, by the definition of the word itself, there are
a great many things that are fellowship. However, not all of those
things are the fellowship expected based on the New Testament
text. Eating a meal together, except the Lord’s Supper, is not
New Testament fellowship. Playing a game together is not New
Testament fellowship. No, it is not sinful to use the word like
this. However, the danger in using this term so loosely is that we
believe we have done what the Bible says when we haven’t. Allow
me to illustrate the problem with another biblical word—baptism.
The word itself just means immersion. It is absolutely true that
if I fall out of the fishing boat I have been immersed and, just
based on the word’s definition, been baptized. However, that is
not the New Testament baptism that saves. If we started using this
term for every action that could be connected to its technical
definition, eventually we will lose sight of what is truly the
baptism the New Testament requires of us thinking we have been
baptized according to Scripture when we have not just because the
word can be technically used. The same is true in fellowship. When
we continue to use this term loosely in the context of our
relationships and work with one another, we can believe we have
fellowshipped as the New Testament requires when we haven’t. B.
We
should spend time together socially, but that is not New Testament
fellowship.
Acts
2:46-48 demonstrates the New Testament Christians spent
time with one another outside of their assemblies. They spent
secular and social time together. Yes, we need to do that.
However, that is never called “fellowship” in the New
Testament. Further, understanding that concept we see that social
time together is the work of individuals, not the congregation.
The church’s job is not to make sure Christians spend time with
one another in social settings. This is one of the grave mistakes
of misunderstanding fellowship. Because fellowship is often a
congregational issue, when socializing is labeled as fellowship,
folks believe the church is responsible to make sure we socialize.
That is simply not true. Socializing, while a responsibility of
the individual Christians, is not the fellowship a local church is
to provide. C.
We
must work together.
As we attend together, we are in congregational fellowship with
each other. However, I think it was important to note that
fellowship carried an active connotation. There were not supposed
to be silent partners. Granted, each partner has different
abilities and therefore different responsibilities. However, if we
are going to teach the truth about “fellowship” it is not
enough to say it is joint participation in spiritual work. We need
to emphasize that it is joint participation.
We must participate, actively partnering with other Christians to
accomplish God’s work. We really aren’t fulfilling God’s
desire for fellowship unless we really are becoming active
partners in the work at hand. D.
We
must help those in need.
Considering all we have seen about fellowship throughout the rest
of the New Testament, we see that the fellowship to which the
disciples were devoted in Acts
2:42 was not the eating of meals together, but the sharing
of possessions with one another. Granted, having a needy brother
or sister into your home for a meal would be fellowship as you
shared God’s blessings to you with them. But it would be
fellowship because you are sharing with them in their need, not
just because you are eating together. One of the issues we see
about fellowship is that those who have God’s blessings should
share with others that don’t. God has not blessed us so we might
hoard our blessings and climb society’s ladder. He has blessed
us so we might share or be in fellowship with those who are in
need. Biblically, on a congregational level, we see fellowship in
this sense is limited to those who are Christians. Nowhere has God
authorized the local church to become a welfare center for any and
all who have need. That is not the role of the local church. At
the same time, we as individuals should do good to all men as we
have opportunity (Galatians
6:10; I Timothy 6:18). Conclusion:
I have been teaching this kind of message for years. It
almost never fails that within the week following a message like
this I will be at someone’s house or a get together and the
person leading the prayer before we eat will thank God for the
opportunity to fellowship with the brethren. It becomes very
frustrating for a preacher to encourage people not to do something
that has become so ingrained. However, I hope to encourage you,
don’t let the modern religious idea of fellowship tarnish your
Biblical understanding. We should spend time together socially,
but that is not New Testament fellowship. And let us never think
that because we have spent time together socializing that we have
fulfilled God’s expectations of fellowship. Let us make sure to
have fellowship God’s way. Fellowship For further personal study To help you study the points of this lesson further to make sure the things that were said are so (cf. Acts 17:11), I am listing the six words connected to “fellowship” in the New Testament, along with all of their uses (42 total). The word beside the reference is the word that translates the Greek Word in the English Standard Version. Please note, that the New Testament never once uses any of the words for fellowship to describe spending secular, social time together. Further, with the exception of the Lord’s Supper, the New Testament never uses any of the words for fellowship to describe eating meals together.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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