So earlier in the week I was reading Acts chapter 2, this is at the back of an incident that happened at home that I shared at my home cell last week in my attempt to confess and repent as the bible encourages us in James 5:16 “confess to one another” meaning admitting our mistakes.  Let me tell you the quick story so you can judge me as well upfront and hopefully forgive me thereafter so we can journey together to the revelation I am learning about fellowship.

So, on Saturday last week; just after the lady that helps clean my home was done, I had ordered a few things from Checkers and the driver came to deliver with his Checkers 60 motor bike.  Now one of the other things you don’t know about me is that I love a perfectly clean place though I can’t say I love cleaning, but I make means for it to happen. And when it has happened, I do my best to keep as clean for as long as I can (Yes judge me a little but at least I make means😊). The Checkers driver knocks and drops my bags and before he leaves, he asks for a glass of water.  Now remember everything is just perfect, not even a spoon in the sink, then I respond, “oh I don’t have it”.  The gentleman is slightly shocked, and he walks back to his bike… probably wondering how I could not have water.  Of course, I did have water, but I was lazy to make a glass dirty and put it in the sink (ridiculous I know) … But God being God, immediately after I closed the door, something in my spirit said “Really? You don’t have water?”  I immediately knew what that was and ran after this man screaming “excuse me, excuse me! Would you like some coke?”. He looked back delighted and accepted the coke I was offering with such gratitude and then he left.  I then immediately asked for forgiveness from God because I knew that behavior was so unnecessary.

Now this story was embarrassing enough telling my home cell group, and between you and me you know I did not have to tell you. I could have acted like I am always kind and considerate and that’s what gives me authority to speak about God and we would all move on being our perfect Christian selves, but I tell you because God used that very interaction to teach me such a deep understanding of fellowship.

Acts 2: 42- 45 reads “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”

The scripture speaks about fellowship amongst believers, the things they did when they were together and for each other.  This is how they fellowshipped. Fellowship comes from a Greek word (Koinonia) which speaks to communion, sharing, a bond uniting Christians as a group with a particular purpose. For the most part fellowship of believers is for the purpose of spiritual edification, sharing of the word, encouraging one another and glorifying God.  This often happens in predetermined spaces. Over time of course many churches have elaborated the word to even societies within the church like a “Woman’s Fellowship”, youth Fellowship and maybe even Men’s Fellowship which speaks to a coming together of a particular group of Christians with a common purpose.

This definition and understanding is the foundation of fellowship, but the Lord has began to show me the extension of this fellowship. What we are supposed to do and be outside of each other.  He took me back to John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life”. God loves the world, and it is the world He wants to save. I initially struggled to connect the dots, why is God showing me this? What does it have to do with fellowship?  But as believers we are witnesses of this love that God has for the world, by His grace we are saved and are called back to the world to be witnesses, to testify of the light of God that through us all men may believe.  Then I began to see the extension of fellowship and why God uses this moment to teach me about fellowship. In 1 John 1:3-4 He says “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you (being anyone who is not born again or does not know of Christ) also may have fellowship (there’s that word again) with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete”.  I could have as well stopped here.  In this one scripture God taught me about His fellowship, how He expects that I fellowship with others not just in the church but outside the church and why He wants me to do it. This is ubungqina (being a witness) or living to be a testimony of God’s love that transforms us from our selfish behaviors of being inwardly focused, lacking discernment of what’s important and not, when a stranger asks for a glass of water and all you are thinking about is the inconvenience of dirtying a glass that can be cleaned in less than a minute. (Don’t worry, this one is directed at me completely.)

Writing this just reminded me of the story of the Samaritan woman, Jesus used water as a conversation starter to teach the Samaritan woman about salvation and He gave her an opportunity to choose to “worship the father in spirit and in truth” that’s John 4:23.  What if I too almost missed a teachable moment with the Lord?Maybe this one is for us Christians to repent and worship the Lord in spirit and in truth regardless of circumstances and location. Maybe it is for us to reflect on our fellowship outside of the church and outside of Christianity. 

This experience and scriptural revelation is challenging my fellowship extension. How am I in fellowship with non-believers? Would their experience of me make them want to be Christ like as I say as a Christian I ought to be?  When my son was younger, he used to run to the door to open for any delivery guy knocking and his favorites were the Uber Eats guys.  He was so fond of them he would even hug them and say “God bless you” as they leave.  I am reminded of this as I reflect on what fellowship outside the Christian round tables should look like. I admired this about him. I still admire his ability to love and see everyone outside of any societal lines.  I want to be more intentional about this, extend fellowship outside of my comfort zone. Being present in a moment and conversation with people and thinking outside of myself. You know when the bible says we will see them by their fruits, its not only talking about big miracles. It is also talking about small miracles of serving someone a meal when all they asked for was a glass of water because you see the need and you like Christ are moved by compassion.  Some of the fruits will not be announced or ever quantified but if they make someone want to know how you are the person you are and you are able to say “by the grace of God, His salvation has transformed me”, that my brother and sis will be a fruit enough for God. Because you know what? He is a God of seeds; He specializes on working with potential. Potential as small as a mustard seed, a desire, something that intangible.

In conclusion, for me fellowship has expanded. Fellowship is not just a location-based gathering, it is a spirit-based positioning in a social world. It is the demonstration of our declaration as Christians. Acts 2:45 that we read earlier says “They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” Looking beyond the literal meaning here is the heart posture of these Christians. They had the heart to share with one another as the need arose.  Later in this chapter we hear that because of this kind of fellowship “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being save” this is in verse 47.

God is teaching me to go back to the innocence of my childhood in my interactions with people. Create real human interaction opportunities not “delivery guy” not “maintenance guy”. Many of us complain about living in an individualistic world when we are told about the harvest that is plenty, this is because we see functions instead of humans. The harvest is plentiful, but the laboures are not always ready to labour.  

Listen, truly speaking this was more of a repentance moment for me, but if it helps you reflect in your own journey in anyway and do better; then sharing it made it all worthwhile.

PS. Based on the definition of fellowship (Koinonia), I have just fellowshipped with you just by sharing this experience. So maybe its not always that deep sharing Christ with others!

You are also welcome to share the blog post to encourage a friend😊

Be Blessed 

#QuenchMyThirst #ThirstyThursday 

Thank God, Jesus pursued me.

LM

Lungie@quenchmythirst.life