“Fellowship”

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

     Are there any scriptures that instruct us on fellowshipping with other Christians (i.e. where to fellowship, what to do when we fellowship)?  I've been meeting with a group of Christians here and there, and it seems all we do is eat, talk about random things, and go home.  I have yet to see a Bible opened at one of the fellowships; we don’t even speak about God and His Word.  If someone walked in on our fellowship, they would think we're just a bunch of friends sitting around and having a good ol’ time.  I want to bring this up before the group.  Any suggestions?

Sincerely,
A Different Kind Of Hungry

Dear A Different Kind Of Hungry,

The Bible talks a lot about fellowship but not in the way we often use the word today.  The word ‘fellowship’ means ‘the share which one has in anything, participation’.  In short, the word fellowship doesn’t have anything to do with social gatherings; it is about partnership and sharing in a common goal.  The Greek word for fellowship is sometimes translated ‘communion’ (2 Cor 13:14) or ‘contribution’ (Rom 15:26) because when we share in a common work or contribute to a common work, we are in fellowship.

The church must be in fellowship with one another constantly.  We must work together for a common purpose at all times.  However, that doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not you socialize… in the case of Php 1:3-5, Paul said he had fellowship with the Philippian church because they financially supported him even though he was in a distant land.

Now that we know what fellowship is and isn’t, let’s talk about this group getting together.  There isn’t anything wrong with Christians just spending time together for fun and social enjoyment.  However, if you are getting together for the purpose of studying and spiritual growth, it sounds like this group isn’t meeting those goals.

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