Strengthening Fellowship from Superficial to Spiritual (Part 1): The Foundation of Fellowship

Humans have a need for connection to other people. We want a place to belong, where we know our people and our people know us. For Christians, our need for connection goes beyond just a hobby group or a club association, but a deep spiritual relationship with believers. This spiritual connection is called “fellowship.” The biblical term for this is koinonia, which isn’t just about socializing. It’s sharing a spiritual bond and participation in the life of Christ together. There is nothing wrong with social activities, but you need something more than that, you need fellowship.

Sometimes Christians may feel the need for more fellowship but don’t know how to get it. Their first impulse is to schedule more events. If we are around each other more, the thought goes, then that should lead to more fellowship. The mistake with that thinking is more doesn’t mean better. Often, the problem with fellowship isn’t one of quantity, but of quality. Take for instance a standard job, where you may be around coworkers for years. You may even spend more waking hours with your fellow employees than your family. How many of your coworkers through all those hours spent with them do you feel a deep spiritual connection with? Probably none to few, and even those few are probably from events and issues not associated with work that led to the bond. The point is, when it comes to fellowship, filling the schedule will do nothing to make you feel more connected until you move past the superficial. Events are great, and hospitality in your own home is a fantastic tool for fellowship, but without deliberate focus it can still miss fellowship. Below are some points on how we can strengthen fellowship to form those meaningful bonds that we need.

1. Recognize You Need Fellowship

You are not an island disconnected from everyone else. Even those people who think they are lone wolves who don’t need anyone are usually the most in need of other people. You were created for fellowship, and your Christian walk is designed to have it. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up.” Going through this life alone is dangerous, but you can be alone in a room full of people and with a packed social schedule. You need people who can recognize when you fall and can lift you up.

You can’t live the Christian life on your own, and you weren’t meant to. In fact, God commanded fellowship. He says in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Fellowship is when social interaction is empowered by love. We can’t love others if we do not allow them to love us. For the Christian, fellowship is not an option, it’s God’s commandment, so of course you need it.

2. Recognize the Reality of Already Being United in Fellowship

Fellowship isn’t trying to fabricate a relationship out of thin air. Fellowship is about recognizing, and living in, a relationship that God has already placed us in. Before the crucifixion in John 17:21 Jesus prayed, “that they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.” That’s what his sacrifice did for us, not only justification from sin and all that is associated with it, but he also placed us in a state of unity with the Father and the Son so that we are also united with each other.

Sometimes in conflict we think we need to create unity with others, but unity is already there. In fact, without the pre-existing unity, we wouldn’t have much hope in our human power to create it. Look at what Paul says in Ephesians 4:3-4, “being eager to keep [or maintain] the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling.” The Spirit has already given us unity; he has bonded us together. We do not need to make unity with each other, we simply need to cultivate the unity that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have already provided.

3. Worship Together for Fellowship

If our fellowship flows from the mystery of the unity given to us through the Trinity, then our proper response is to worship together. This was the exact same response of the early church in Acts 2:42, “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.” You will never experience true fellowship if you do not worship with other believers. Being dedicated to the gathering of local believers in church is not only the natural result of fellowship, but also necessary for it.

The assembly of believers isn’t something that is outdated due to technology. It is something that is even more important as the ages role on. Hebrews 10:25 says, “not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” The closer we get to the return of Christ, the more significant this point becomes, not less. It is through the assembly that we encourage each other by worshipping together. It is a weekly reminder that I am not alone, but I am linked to other believers as we praise the God we are all connected to.

These three points form the foundation of fellowship. We need it, we are already spiritually connected through it, and our worship is motivated by it. In the next article we will examine the facilitation of fellowship, asking how do we build upon this foundation? We can never leave behind the foundation, but we do need to construct onto this foundation windows and walls for fellowship to thrive.