Communal Disciplines (5)

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. Acts 4.32

Fellowship?
Most churches have a “fellowship hall” or offer opportunities for “fellowship” with other church members. Typically, these times of “fellowship” are intended to be casual opportunities for friendly interaction where church members can enjoy some light refreshment, share their stories with one another, become better acquainted with the members of their church, and bring friends from beyond the church to introduce them to other believers.

In Scripture, such opportunities are not called “fellowship.” They’re more like what the Scriptures have in mind under the rubric of “hospitality.” It’s interesting that, in churches that stress “fellowship” and provide opportunities for “fellowship,” the practice of “hospitality” – of opening one’s home and life to others – tends to decline. We’re happy to engage in “fellowship” with others at church, but we don’t like people invading the cocoon of our private lives.

So by misnaming what many churches offer as a primary focus of their “ministry”, not only do we reduce the practice of true hospitality, but we obscure the meaning and downplay the practice of fellowship. Fellowship, as understood in the Scripture, is a primary characteristic of local churches. But if fellowship is not properly understood, we can not expect it to be properly practiced. Nor can we expect the fruit of fellowship to be what God intends as a means of advancing His Kingdom and glory.

What is fellowship?
The New Testament word for “fellowship” means roughly, “having things in common.” Among the first Christians this took the form of sharing of their time, homes, other possessions, and wealth for the purpose of encouraging others in their discipleship and building-up the local community of believers according to a wide variety of needs.

Fellowship, as we see it in the book of Acts, makes three requirements of us that are not commonly found in many local churches today. First, fellowship requires renunciation – that disciples make up their minds that, not only are they not their own, but belong to God through Jesus Christ, but nothing they possess belongs to them, either (cf. 1 Cor. 6.19, 20; Acts 2.43, 44; 4.32). They are stewards of resources, entrusted to them by God, which are to be used to show neighbor-love as often as is required.

For the first Christians fellowship meant, second, a readiness to share homes, possessions, and wealth with their fellow believers, as well as with congregations in need elsewhere. This included making provision to meet the needs of those in their membership who struggled or were unable to provide for themselves – such as widows, the sick, and the poor. The first Christians understood that you can’t have a true body unless all the members invest the totality of their strength in providing for the wellbeing of all the other members, and that meant bringing of their resources, as need indicated, freely and abundantly.

Finally, for such fellowship to exist, the first Christians had to resist every selfish inclination and submit to the wisdom of church leaders as they, wise shepherds, worked to ensure the wellbeing of all members of the local congregation.

The power of fellowship
Most churches today have a deacons’ fund to provide for at least some of the immediate material needs of church members and others in the community. Other churches offer other services for the poor or needy – transportation, food vouchers, automobile repair, and so forth. These useful works of ministry are the lingering echo of true fellowship which the first Christians practiced so lavishly and conspicuously. And they continue to bear witness to the power of fellowship to “Good News” the Kingdom within our communities.

In Acts 6.1-7 we see the power fellowship can bring to bear within and through a community of believers. A situation arose in which certain destitute widows, who were being cared for by the church in Jerusalem, began to be neglected. Soon this oversight became habitual, and some members began to complain. These widows were not native Jerusalemites but had come to the church there from Gentile regions and spoke mainly Greek, rather than Aramaic, which was the lingua franca of Jerusalem’s Jewish community.

We can imagine that communications with non-Aramaic church members could be difficult. They didn’t speak our language, had different customs and dress, and stood out as not exactly like the rest of us. Overlooking them once or twice could be excused at first, but then overlooking became neglect, and neglect led to grumbling, threatening to fracture the Body of Christ and – at least as outsiders and onlookers must have seen it – put to lie the claim that a new Kingdom and way of life had come among the followers of Christ.

As it turned out, the situation was simply and amicably resolved. The apostles diagnosed the situation and arranged for servants to be appointed from within the community to address the need, and all the members of the community chipped in to do their part in the spirit of true fellowship. The church was strengthened, and the witness of their selfless love to the surrounding community was astonishing. So much so, that even many of those who had staunchly resisted the Gospel, and had even persecuted those who preached it, now became convinced of the reality of the Kingdom and gave their lives to Christ.

When we learn to practice true fellowship in our churches, so that self-denying, need-meeting, conspicuous love for one another overflows into our communities, then the power of that fellowship will pave the way for the proclamation of the Kingdom to onlookers and outsiders of all kinds.

Next steps: In what ways does your church practice fellowship? Talk with a pastor or church leader about this question.

T. M. Moore

This week’s study, Communal Disciplines, is part 6 of a 7-part series on The Disciplined Life, and is available as a free download by clicking here. We have prepared a special worksheet to help you begin getting your disciplines in proper shape for seeking the Kingdom. Write to T. M. at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for your free PDF of the “Disciplined Life Worksheet.”

A rightly-disciplined life requires a Kingdom vision, and that vision is centered on Jesus Christ exalted. T. M. has prepared a series of meditations on the glorious vision of Christ, based on Scripture and insights from the Celtic Christian tradition. Order your copy of Be Thou My Vision by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.