Many of these ideas came from Tim Mackie’s Exploring My Strange Bible podcast, particularly “Sharing Grace” under “Why Church Matters.” The entire podcast is great and highly recommended!
If you start spending time around Christians, you’ll hear a few buzz words—what many call “Christianese”—words that Christians will regularly use. For many outside, these phrases can feel more like code words without a clear meaning. To be honest, many Christians may use them without any idea why. For instance, why do we make such a big deal about “fellowship”?
Think about it: you don’t use that word with your friends outside the church; you’re not going to your co-workers, saying, “Hey everyone, we really need to find some time and fellowship together.” If you’re working in ministry, they know what you mean; if you’re working at Wawa, they probably think you want to start a cult.
Why do Christians talk about “fellowshipping with each other”? If you look at the early church, they devoted themselves to four priorities: teaching, eating together, praying, and fellowship (Acts 2:42). Looking at 2:43-47, the author Luke gives a picture of what this looks like: they had all things in “common,” which is a different form of the same Greek word for “fellowship.” They met together in the temple; they came into each other’s houses, eating together; they were doing nothing less than invading the lives of one another. As an interconnected group, these Christians will soon be described as “of one heart and mind” (Acts 4:32, CSB). In fact, Luke goes so far as to say “there was not a needy person among them” (4:34). There are at least 3,000 people in this church, yet Luke can still say they’re all united and taken care of.
“Fellowship” means more than “Christians hanging out together.” Fellowship means that we are united by a common life, goal, purpose, mission, or whatever you want to call it. Christians have experienced God’s undeserved favor found in the Savior Jesus Christ, but they are not just growing in this relationship with God; they’re growing in relationship with other Christians. We are dedicating our time, energy, and resources to this “fellowship” with other believers. Or maybe it’s better to think about this through the words of John: “What we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3, CSB).
When Hope Church started doing a “Potluck and Prayer,” the theme was Acts 2:42. And taking a peak behind the curtain, the “Potluck” time is not this obligation to get people there, and what we really care about is prayer time; the Potluck time is following the example of this early church, growing both in our relationship with God and one another.
For your Christian walk, don’t suck the life out of “fellowship.” The church is a community of believers who should care deeply for God and those near them. Don’t treat this church in Acts as a romantic idea: “Boy, that sounds nice back then, but today I can’t get three Christians in a room without disagreeing.” This church in Acts isn’t an ideal but an assumption for all Christian communities. If we find ourselves united to Jesus Christ—giving our life to Him—it’s a given we’re striving to also do the same for other believers God has placed in our life.