Discipleship Pt.4, Fellowship

I want you to take a moment to think of your favorite church event. It could be a mission trip you went on, a competition, a youth event, a movie night… For me, I think back to the chili cookoff. Now maybe it sounds silly, but those nights meant a lot to me! As you think about your event, I want you to imagine it deeply. What sights do you remember? I remember the lines of chili, the goofy chili pepper trophy, the campfire we had afterwards. What sounds? I remember the crackling fire, singing songs, and the sound of us singing happy birthday to Jesus, which we always did because the cookoff was close to Christmas. Can you imagine any tastes, any feelings or textures, any emotions that you remember at your event. I know I always felt loved. I felt like I belonged, like I was part of a community.

Now, whatever it was you are imagining, hold on to it, because I want to talk about those moments later. But I want to take a guess. Whatever event you imagined, there were other people there. You know why I know I can say that? Because church doesn’t happen in isolation! We don’t and can’t do church on our own. We need other people. The events of COVID-19 I think have proved that more than ever!

What is fellowship?

Over the past few weeks we’ve been talking about discipleship. We talked about inner transformation and outer, this idea that we need to change, to be different people, to grow and suffer for Christ, and most importantly, to be willing to die to ourselves. But as I said last week, we don’t just empty ourselves, we allow ourselves to be filled with new things. One of those new things is community, or as Scripture calls it, fellowship. When we first came to Christ, not only did we join into a relationship with God, we also joined in relationship with every Christian around the world, past, present, and future! We are a part of literally the largest family that has ever walked the Earth! We became part of the eternal fellowship of Christians.

Now, this sounds like a big deal, and it is, but what exactly does it mean? What is fellowship, and why do we call it that? I think a lot of us are more familiar with the concept of community, at least, that’s the word we use today to refer to the group of people around us. Some communities we are involved in by choice, some we don’t have a say in. Some are healthy, some not. But essentially community always boils down to being in the presence (physical or otherwise) of other people. But fellowship is not just ordinary community. Fellowship is a community of disciples. To be a part of a fellowship you actually have to participate! In other words, there is no passive participation in the body of Christ. The way James explains it is that “Faith without works is dead.” Similarly, fellowship without involvement is dead. In other words, if we want to call what we have here, this group, a fellowship of disciples, then we have to participate, not just in events together, but in each others lives! This means not just doing all the weddings, the funerals, the celebrations, movie nights, baptisms, and chili cook offs, but also praying for each other, or more importantly, praying with each other. This is one of those things you’ll hear me talk about again and again, probably because it’s important or something… But Christians PRAY for each other. But to do this. we have to be willing to get involved in each other’s lives, and to open up about our own. We have to be willing to be honest during those sessions of prayer when we ask for requests, or at least with each other in our individual conversations, and talk about our needs and our victories, and we have to be willing to pray about those of the rest of our fellowship.

But let’s be honest, maybe they don’t call it praying, but this kind of stuff is all done in non-Christian communities right? Taking an interest in each other, being involved. So what is unique about Christian community? Well, Scripture tells us of the first Christian community and describes it like this Acts 2:42-47 “42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

What sets us apart is our worship. What sets us apart is our God. A lot of the things this community did, others could do too. But what made them a genuine fellowship of believers was their worship. When they worshipped together, they saw signs and wonders being performed, people were coming to Christ, needs were being met, and every day they were strengthened. Because this church wasn’t a group of people focused on themselves, it was a community focused on God, and when we focus more on God, we grow closer together, and great, amazing things can happen. More than that, because they were so focused on God, and not on themselves, they were able to suffer together, not by force, but by choice. People chose to give up their homes, their jobs, and everything they had for the good of their community and as an act of worship to God.

Why is this important? How is it tied to discipleship?

But why does any of this matter for us? And what does it have to do with discipleship? Well, for one thing, I want to go back to our Scripture for today. Do you remember what I said earlier? We cannot live out our faith in isolation. This wasn’t just my idea, God made us this way. In the beginning, God made everything, including Adam. But he looked at Adam and said, it’s not good for you to be alone. He tried with the animals, but none were a good enough companion for him, which means you can’t just get by talking to your cat! Adam needed another person. There’s a lot to be said about that. First, consider that this happened before the Fall. In other words, we don’t just need each other to fight sin, we need each other just because that’s who we are. We are creatures of community. But why? Why do we need other people, especially those of us who feel better not being around people?

Well, let me offer a few Scriptural suggestions. One comes from the Proverbs, and it says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” In other words, we need each other because we hold each other accountable. Have you ever heard someone say things like, “You can’t judge me,” or my personal favorite, “only God can judge me”? As Christians, we actually don’t believe that. We are to judge each other! But not in a critical way. Instead we do it to build each other up. When one of us slips up or falls into sin, part of fellowship, and thus part of discipleship, is helping pick the person back up, and if they don’t see their sin, then calling them out on it. It’s easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that everything we do is right, but a lot harder to convince a church full of Christians! Of course, we don’t want to become like the man with a plank in his eye, picking a speck out of someone else’s, that’s not my point. But we do find accountability in fellowship that we can’t get alone. Scripture also tells us in Ecclesiastes, “9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” There’s a few points there, but the overall point is that we are stronger together than we are apart. Stronger against the world, ourselves, and more importantly, against sin. The reality is we need each other, even though we don’t always want to believe it.

And why does it matter how strong we are? If we fall? This is where discipleship comes back in. Because, first of all, if we want to maintain the transformation we already went through, we need others to keep us on track! Second, if we really want to be disciples and spread the Gospel, then we have to have a strong enough walk ourselves to demonstrate that our Gospel, the good news about Christ and the Kingdom of God, is true! It’s not much of a Gospel if it didn’t change our lives! And finally, by being involved in a community ourselves, we give the people we witness to a community to get involved in themselves, which they’ll need for their own discipleship walk.

How can we do fellowship today?

So then, we know that fellowship is more than just ordinary community, we know that it’s necessary to strengthen our walk, and most importantly, that we were made for fellowship, not isolation. So what? What can we do about that? Well, the easiest first step is COME TO CHURCH! Paul specifically tells us “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” In other words, don’t skip out on Church! But more than just that, refuse to be a passive participant in church. When leaders ask for opinions, give yours. When questions are asked in a small group, share your thoughts. When we pray together, volunteer, be open about your requests and praise, and pray about what you hear when you leave. Don’t skip out on events either. Now, maybe there will be times when other things are going on, and that’s okay, but don’t make a habit of skipping out on everything your fellowship community does together.

Another way you can strengthen our fellowship is by helping it grow! Reach out to your friends and family, your classmates and coworkers. Invite others to come in, to experience Christ, and to know the love that you’ve been able to experience here. Take the Church back out to the world!

But most importantly, if you really want to do something to make this a strong fellowship, then start getting involved with each other beyond these walls. Don’t let your relationships with each other end when service does. The older of you should be like brothers and sisters to the younger. The people your age can be your accountability partners and friends. We are a family, and we are all joined together in Christ’s name, and that is not something that can be confined to this building.