Finding Fellowship - Nick Napier
When we hear the word fellowship or Christian fellowship today, the image that comes to mind most frequently is a potluck supper after church when everyone is laughing and enjoying each other's company. We envision spending time in small groups and hosting Christian church friends in our homes. Anything goes as long as Christians are having a good time talking to one another. But does the Bible mean that when it talks of Christian fellowship? Christian community goes beyond what one can experience in a neighborhood bar, Starbucks, or barbershop. It is more comparable to individuals who are conscripted from varied backgrounds, given a task, and then figure that out in their engagements as soldiers.
In the first few verses of his letter to the Philippians, Paul provides what is meant by Christian fellowship. To state the obvious, but for Paul, Christ is the centering and grounding element of Christian community. He lays it out for us in Philippians 1:5 and 1:7. He tells the Philippians in 1:4 that he prays joyfully for them, and he explains in 1:5 why: "for your fellowship (the word can alternatively be rendered as partnership or participation) in the gospel." He informs them that "you all are partakers with me of grace" in 1:7. As we reflect on what Paul is saying, it becomes clear that fellowship is much more than just having coffee with a Christian friend to pray. While it might involve going out for coffee, the essence of it revolves around taking part in what God is doing in the world. We are included in it and have our unity around Christ and his mission.
I hesitate to use an illustration drawn from Lord of the Rings, but I believe it will help us better understand the concept of fellowship. There are a number of hobbits, dwarves, and elves, and all from differing backgrounds and temperaments — many of whom do not even care for each other. Yet, the destruction of the ring unites them. They will endure much together —a partnership or fellowship, if you will — in order to see it destroyed.
Christian fellowship is precisely that sort of participation. We are a part of something that God started before our time and that he directs and completes. We come from varying back grounds. Sometimes we don’t really necessarily like those who sit near us on Sundays—but ultimately, we have been brought into participation in a mission which was begun long before we were born and over which we have no say in its direction. And yet, it has the power to unite us into one glorious unit.
We enter in and participate in this work which God is doing, not in flashy ways; Not in ways that will be exciting, adventurous, or exhilarating. When we gather on Sundays and learn the language of the company of the redeemed, when we are connected to our objectives through the preaching of the Word, when we pray together, and when we see the sacraments with our eyes and by faith are pointed to Jesus through them, then we have our most fundamental participation, our fellowship, in this mission. If the object of our affection is Christ, He will be the center of our unity.
Paul repeatedly refers us to Christ in Philippians chapter 1 in order to focus our attention on Him and the work He is doing in the world. He does this in order to make clear to us that we have been placed in the company of the redeemed and that we are in hostile territory in this fellowship. The Lord has placed us in the fellowship, the partnership, of the gospel with these people. Our mission is to live lives that are grounded in and centered in Jesus. He is to serve as the beginning, middle, and end of all of our relationships. Here, rather than just being Christians who fellowship, we have a true Christian fellowship (participation).
Therefore, Christian fellowship is not merely jokes and friendly banter. Unity in Christ, lives centered on Him, and living as those who have a participation in the gospel and are partakers of grace are what are meant by being brought into fellowship. It is that which the outside world will not have. It is that which Christians have as we see the mission to which Christ has called us, and we set our affection on him and pursue his calling.