Fellowship
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Fellowship. When I hear this word my mind always goes to Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring. I think of the strange companions who are joined together with the task of helping return and destroy the ring of Sauron in the volcano, Mt. Doom. They come from different backgrounds and places, each with his own unique story and prejudices.
It’s not that different from the disciples of Jesus. People from different backgrounds, different stories, with unique histories that shape how they have experienced the world and yes, even shaped their prejudices. Think about some of the disciples for just a minute. There was Peter–the most outspoken, quick to react, and sometimes brash. We also know he was not a fan of Gentiles or those who were coming against Jesus. Andrew was the more religious between him and his brother Peter. He was a faithful disciple of John the Baptist and brought Peter and many others to Christ. There was John, who was known not just as the disciple that Jesus loved, but through church history as one of the “sons of thunder” with a fiery temper and intolerant heart. There was Matthew, a Jew who worked for Rome as a tax collector and had tension inside and outside the group, probably from Simon the Zealot. Zealots were fanatical Jewish nationalists who had a heroic disregard for the suffering involved and the struggle for what they regarded as the purity of their faith. They were crazed with hatred for the overreaching Roman government. There is Thomas who is our resident pessimist and of course, Judas who was overcome with his desire for money and betrayed Jesus.
We see the flaws in these men and, apart from Judas, they all were brought together by the grace of Jesus, in the love of God, and the fellowship of the Spirit. The Spirit of God working in hearts changes the way His followers live with each other.
Fellowship in today’s culture often means getting together as a group. Maybe it includes having some good but light conversations. Drinking coffee or savoring the donuts that were brought by some thoughtful person that morning. But biblical fellowship is more than that (Acts 2:42), and it has purpose built into it.
“They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Devotion to fellowship. Not just participating in activities or seeing one another on Sunday, but devoted to doing life together. The Spirit joined their lives together so that the disciples saw it as necessary to share with one another not just their belongings but their very lives. There are over 50 Scriptures that tell us how to live with one another. In a simple way, these tell us what devoted to fellowship looks like.
It is the work of God through Christ that joins people from such different backgrounds together in such a way that they can grow in unity, care, and love for one another. In fact, 1 John 1:7 says that this is only possible because of Christ!
“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.”
It is the walking together in Christ that unifies us, joins us, and causes us to devote ourselves to fellowship.
So, this year, what will fellowship look like for you? How devoted to being in relationships with others will you be? The disciples knew that to truly follow Christ and experience all the grace and love that God has for us, we need to be in fellowship. So, as you pray over what God will call you into, pray about how you can be a part of growing true fellowship at the Bridge. We want to encourage, support, challenge, and sharpen one another by loving well and by being authentic. It can feel risky to open yourself up to people, but that’s a crucial ingredient in growing in community. Be intentional, be honest, and let’s recognize that differences don’t have to keep us apart. If humility and loving honor for one another mark our relationships, even disagreements can be fodder for growth in our faith. We can ask questions without fearing answers. Ultimately, if our questions turn us toward the Word of God and we use that as our standard, then those questions are good things. Let’s search the Scripture together. It’s good to be stretched, good to be genuine, and good to be walking with one another toward Christ.
The Holy Spirit, our Helper and Great Counselor, won’t lead us astray. He wants to lead us into unity and an ever-deepening faith. So, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all in this new year!
