Intimate fellowship
Those words scare a lot of people today. In this post-modern era, when opening up to someone to reveal your flaws and imperfections is scary, intimate fellowship with other believers is something not commonly practiced. After all, who enjoys airing their dirty laundry for another to hear? Especially us Christians; we want others to think that we’ve got it all together. Yet, the bible, in James 5:16, instructs us to confess our sins one to another.
When I say intimate fellowship, I’m talking about accountability, which involves confessing our short-comings. I’m talking about the act of praying one-on-one with another. I’m talking about inviting folks over to your house to eat. It also involves the giving of our time, money, and possessions to encourage someone else. My wife and I are so thankful for the times that someone has shown us the love of Jesus with a meal, or an anonymous check in the mail. It’s such a blessing to be the beneficiary of someone’s obedience and faithfulness to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Yet our blessing is nothing compared to the blessing received by the giver.
Fellowship is not simply an after-church gathering. In fact, what we think of as fellowship today, is not true biblical fellowship at all. Fellowship should be a way of life. Acts 2:42-47 describes this ideal fellowship. We think we’ve been to church too much by going once or twice a week. Now I’m not advocating being so involved in “church stuff” that we neglect our families. Far too many full-time staffers have experienced burn out by being at church too much. But I’m not talking about being AT church. I’m talking about BEING the church. The early church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. They devoted themselves to sharing meals with one another. They devoted themselves to prayer. The bible says they experienced miracles daily, and that everyone had everything in common. And the bible says that they continued to do this daily. What an exciting time!
There is a vital ingredient to fellowship like this. I’ll call this Part one, and pick up with Part 2 next time. Stay tuned.
Brian
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