Most often , Christians speak of fellowship as an activity or subjective experience. Yet, “fellowship” translates the Greek word “koinonia” and a better translation would be “invested partnership” or “a sharing together”: fellowship is an objective reality.
John Stott explains:
In common usage fellowship describes something subjective, the experience of warmth and security in each other’s presence, as in ‘We had a good fellowship together.’ But in biblical usage koinonia is not a subjective feeling at all, but an objective fact, expressing what we share in together.
So Paul could write ‘you share in God’s grace with me’ (Philippians 1:7); John could write ‘that you may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ’ (1 John 1:3); while Paul added ‘the fellowship of the Holy Spirit’ (2 Corinthians 13:14). Thus authentic fellowship is Trinitarian fellowship. It bears witness to our common share in the grace of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Is this not what makes us one? We come from different countries, cultures, and churches. We have different temperaments, gifts, and interests. And yet we have this in common: the same God as our Heavenly Father; the same Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord; and the same Holy Spirit as our indwelling comforter.
It is our common participation (our koinonia) in God (Father, Son, and Spirit) which unites us. And this is most vividly expressed in the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist. For ‘is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is mot the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?’ (1 Corinthians 10:16). John Stott, The Living Church, IVP, 2007, Downers Grove, 91.
“It is our common participation (our koinonia) in God (Father, Son, and Spirit) which unites us. And this is most vividly expressed in the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist.”
Thank you for this. In the church I grew up in, the Lord’s Supper was just a “quarterly” thing. How grateful I am to come to the table every week now, with a deeper understanding and appreciation. ( I also liked Stott’s thoughts on the Lord’s Supper in The Cross of Christ.)
I wonder if understanding this better would help us fight our American individualist tendencies?
Exact-a-mendo
Isn’t it interesting that Stott draws attention to our union with God as the basis for our true fellowship so that it cuts across cultural lines, etc., when what we are usually tempted to do is think we have true fellowship with those that are most like us in culture, race, etc. Good post. Thought provoking, and convicting. Probably just what yer hopin fer.
Consider Philippians where Paul talks so much about fellowship/koinonia. Paul was probably in a Roman prison far from Philippi. They certainly weren’t having potluck dinners. Union with and in Christ is foundational to it all.
True. On the other hand, for Paul in that Roman prison, it may have taken considerable “luck” to get something in that “pot”:)
On a more serious note, I was especially noticing this morning that the petitions for personal needs in The Lord’s Prayer are all in the plural. Huh.