One of the most common words you hear in religious circles is “fellowship.” We talk about fellowship meals, fellowship halls, fellowship with other Christians, and lots of other fellowship things. But what is fellowship? I want to spend a few articles writing about what the Bible says about fellowship. In this first article, we will simply look at definitions, and usage in the Bible.
The greek word for “fellowship” is “κοινωνια” (koinonia). This word occurs 19x in the New Testament, but other words with the same root occur 75x. The simple definition of the word is “close association involving mutual interests and sharing” (BDAG p.552). This word is translated often as sharing, communion, fellowship, partnership, participation, etc. The basic idea of this word is something people share in common that enables them to work closely together. The book of 1 John gives us the idea that fellowship is something that we share with God, that we also share with each other (1 John 1:3).
Fellowship is more than a meal, it’s more than Christians who get together for fun, and it’s more than a name of a space in your building. If I were to define fellowship in my own words it would be this:
“Fellowship is a relationship you have with God, that you also have with others who have that same relationship with God.”
Fellowship is what connects us all together. Fellowship is our unique relationship we share because of our relationship with God. Because of this relationship, we are able to work together, share in certain things together, help each other meet needs, and much more.
The beauty of fellowship is that its not limited to your congregation, but it stretches out to anybody who has the same relationship with God that you have. If someone is a New Testament Christian, you have fellowship with them because you share this unique relationship. It gives you a family of like-minded people world-wide! It gives you people that you will forever be connected to. In the next few articles, I want to look at some of the implications of this idea of fellowship. Who can we extend it to? What can we do because of it? I hope you’ll read the following articles to learn more!
— Kolton Ballance
