The Fellowship

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace." (Philippians 1:3-7)

Fellowship is a funny word in the church. We have "Fellowship Halls" and "Fellowship Dinners" and "Fellowship Activities" but do we really have fellowship? I think some churches probably do a better job of achieving fellowship than others but it really is a part of the Christian life we all need. True fellowship is not going to church and shaking hands five minutes before and five minutes after. The Greek word that we translate fellowship is kononia. It is a powerful word. We get communion from this same word. It implies a joining together of our lives. One meaning of the word is actually intercourse.

In J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy the first book is called The Fellowship of the Ring. It's about nine characters who commit themselves to a quest to help Frodo destroy Sauron's ring. In doing so they endure hardship, loss, fear, hunger and separation. Their commitment to one another endures. Natural enemies become close friends and the companions of the Fellowship achieve things they had never dreamed they could do.

In church it is all too common for us to cluster among people who are like us. But a big part of the joy in the journey is to stretch and to love those who don't look like me or act like me --to find fellowship with someone that I have absolutely nothing in common with except a love for Jesus. Real love is proven when it is tested. Real love will make you stretch. Real love is sometimes messy and inconvenient.

We all have people we admire and want to be around. Typically we gravitate toward people who encourage us and make us feel better. That's okay. But in doing that never forget that maybe, just maybe, you can be that person for someone else. Take a chance. Stretch a little. Reach out to that person at church who always seems to be alone. God will use you in doing so. Be an encourager for someone else.

We need one another. I believe in healing. I believe that Jesus paid for our healing at the cross according to God's Word. I have seen lots and lots of people healed. And yet, when I get sick or have a physical problem I have rarely seen a dramatic healing in my own life from one on one times with the Lord or by standing on the Word. I have seen some -- once when I had kidney stones and another time when I had a stomach virus, come to mind. But those times have been the exception. The dramatic healings in my life have occurred when I went to the church and had people lay hands on me and pray. I think this kind of thing speaks to our need for one another.

True fellowship happens in the ongoing interaction and intersection of our lives. One of my wife Gloria's favorite sayings is that church should be a place where we can "share our deepest joys but also our greatest pain." This can only happen in an environment of intimacy and trust and through the process of relationship. This kind of fellowship encourages a natural real ministry to one another. Sometimes you're on the receiving end and sometimes you're on the giving end. One of the weaknesses of church celebrity is that we put people on pedestals that can remove them from the safety and protection of this kind of fellowship. We all need real friends and real relationships that are healthy. We all need people in our lives who want to see God's best for us.