Category Archives: Fellowship – Unity

The Christian life isn’t meant to be lived alone but rather in fellowship with one another. The corporate, common sharing of life in Christ (koinonia), therefore needs to be a priority for His Church.

6 Biblical Reasons Fellowship Should be a Priority

God’s Word provides a number of reasons we should view fellowship with one another as important.

1. God created people for human community. (Gen. 2:18)

2. We find a corporate aspect of God’s people both in both Old Testament life and in the New Testament Church. (Gen. 12:2; Eph. 2:19-22)

3. The Early Church devoted themselves to fellowship. (Acts 2:42)

4. Jesus prayed for our oneness to be patterned after the fellowship enjoyed in the Trinity. (John 17:20-23)

5. We’re commanded not to forsake relationship with one another which requires spending time with one another. (Heb. 10:25)

6. Eternity with the Lord has a corporate dimension as well. (Rev. 21:2-22:5; Heb. 11:10, 13-14; 1 Thess. 4:16-18; Phil. 3:20)

If we can’t fellowship with one another, perhaps we need to ask if we’re in fellowship with God.

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 Jn. 4:20-21)

The Church Purpose Manual includes what you read in this post along with more about this priority as well as other ways we can live out our purpose to love God and people.

More: Resources on Fellowship

Have you ever been to a church where people walk right by you without making any kind of eye contact or acknowledgement of your presence? How are we going to enjoy fellowship with one another or meet needs if we aren’t even noticing people?

If we don’t see that furrowed brow, we may not know to ask if we can pray with them about the stress or anxiety they’re experiencing. When we don’t notice their clenched fist or tight jaw line, we probably won’t address anger eating away at them. If we don’t look at their slumped posture or glossy eyes, we may not realize their need for us to extend comfort or encouragement.

People won’t always come to us. They often won’t tell us their needs. But, a few observations give us a starting place for reaching out.

Scriptural Examples of Noticing People

As Jesus walked this earth, He would see, or notice, the people around Him and their needs and feel compassion  which moved Him to action (Matt. 9:36; 14:14; 15:32). — “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (Matt. 14:14)

The Apostle Paul, in proclaiming Jesus to the people of Athens, observed their way of life and used it to illustrate their need for Jesus. — “I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship – and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:22-23)

Why Noticing Matters

Noticing people and what’s going on in their lives can do the following:

• gives us a starting point — sometimes one of the hardest parts of witnessing or meeting needs

• helps us break down barriers, even bridge cultural divides

• gets people’s attention

• gives people a sense that we care

What Noticing Requires of Us

Truly noticing others requires that we look outside of our own little world and see what’s happening around us.

Sometimes that doesn’t come easy or naturally due to personality or issues in our own lives. We may need to make a purposeful effort to be more observant so we at least try.

Sometimes we’re too biased to see accurately. We may need to let go of our pride or insecurities so we can see clearly.

Sometimes we’re more consumed with what we need or want from people that we give little heed to what they might need or want. We may need to learn what it means to love others as we love ourselves (Matt. 22:39) so we even care about noticing people.

Sometimes we’re just too busy to look attentively. We may need to slow down some so we can be more mindful of the world around us.

If we want to touch people’s lives, we’ve got to begin by noticing them. What to do next may be obvious based on what we’ve noticed but we might need to learn more. Consequently, our next step may be listening to them. We must then ask if we not only notice people but also if we listen to them. Go to: Listening Skills

In the Church we often encourage people to come out to group events for a time of fun, food, and fellowship. We certainly can provide the fun and food without too much trouble. But, far more than we might care to admit, the fellowship part either doesn’t happen, remains on a superficial level, or only happens with a few in attendance. We might engage in a lot of talking and laughing while eating or participating in activities, but how much of that communication can be identified as true fellowship?

True Fellowship in Group Events Missing Because we Lack Focus

In addition to fun, food, and fellowship, we also need focus — focus on the Lord. He is what we share in common, making true fellowship (koinonia) possible.

There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope when you were called — one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph. 4:4-6)

Coming together needs to be rooted in the One God who called us into one body if we want our group events to be different from what we might experience elsewhere.

Bring Focus to Group Events Through the Word

When I started leading a church youth group, there were cliques that prevented them from acting like “one body” so that was a priority I needed to work on. I implemented lots of community building activities to help break down walls. Since fun and food tend to fit well with youth (even with adults), I used one of our meetings every month for a time of extra fun and food centered around a holiday theme, both common and unusual ones, for that month. Since I wanted to not only rid the group of cliques but also replace them with true fellowship rooted in the Lord, these events included a brief devotional from God’s Word to focus on the Lord as the reason for it all. (Celebrate the Month Youth Activity Curriculum includes a year’s worth of these events.)

Group events filled with lots of fun and food provide a place for people to engage in fellowship but without providing the focus on God, true fellowship may not happen. A devotional, based on the Word, however brief it might be, can help people focus on the Lord, providing a jump start for true fellowship with one another. In addition, it adds verbal testimony to those in attendance who don’t know the Lord, helping them identify what it is that makes this group different from what they experience in the world.