Fellowship

As I said before Todd and I have been reading "The Purpose Driven Life." I admit we got into a little bit of a slump after a while, but we started reading it again last night. The chapter we read was about fellowship. He said the term fellowship no longer has the meaning that it once did. Now when someones asks "Where do you fellowship" they are really asking "where do you go to church." And many times fellowship refers to a time of eating, and socializing. The Bible says we were designed to go through life together: Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace. (Colossians 3:15.)

We are told that when two or more are gathered then God is in our midsts. Small groups are great for fellowship because it engages everyone involved where if it were a large group some people would back off and allow others to take control of the situation. With fellowship it's a time for us to be real with each other. It requires authenticity, mutuality, sympathy, and mercy. We need to be authentic about wanting to be with each other and get honest about things. We need to be mutual in depending on each other the Bible also tells us that The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part (1 Corinthians 12:25).

Sympathy is when we really feel the pain of those around us, not just giving them advice. We need to share, study the word, serve together and most importantly suffer with one another. Again the Bible tells us to be sympathetic, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Those characteristics describe Jesus, and since we are supposed to be like him...

Fellowship is not just spending time together and talking with each other. Its more about being honest and open about what we are dealing with. We need to get deep to the heart of the problem and share it with each other, we shouldn't be ashamed of what we are dealing with. Real fellowship is carrying each others' burdens and go through the hardships together.