{"id":1699,"date":"2020-09-22T05:00:25","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T09:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/?post_type=resource&p=1699"},"modified":"2020-09-21T13:07:11","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T17:07:11","slug":"the-importance-of-devotion-to-fellowship-in-replanting","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/the-importance-of-devotion-to-fellowship-in-replanting\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Devotion to Fellowship in Replanting"},"content":{"rendered":"

The college I attended, Wayland Baptist University (Go, Pioneers!), held an orientation weekend for incoming freshman the weekend before the Fall semester started. The whole weekend had kind of a youth campy-feel. We were put into small groups, played games, did a massive scavenger hunt all over town searching for huge porcelain bulls (it\u2019s a thing in a cattle town) and had Bible studies together.<\/p>\n

They called this orientation weekend Koinonia,<\/em> the Greek word used in the New Testament to describe the fellowship that occurred in the early church. As an incoming freshman, I didn\u2019t know the depth of what that word meant and, for the next couple of years, every time I heard the word I had flashbacks to that orientation weekend and messy games like a giant royal-rumble style wrestling match on a tarp covered in dry dog food that had been thoroughly soaked. While that weekend was a lot of fun, and I have some wonderful memories from that time, I think the biblical idea of fellowship goes quite a bit deeper than playing games.<\/p>\n

In previous posts (here<\/a> and here<\/a>), I described how the believers in the first church had a deep devotion to Christ and to Scripture. Those are foundational, and nothing can replace those first two as the cornerstones of a local church. But the early believers also were deeply devoted to one another.<\/p>\n

Acts 2:44-45 says, \u201cNow all the believers were together and had all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.\u201d Consider this for a moment. When a need arose within the local body of believers, fellow believers in that church did what they had to do in order to meet the need. Sometimes that meant selling their stuff so they could be a blessing.<\/p>\n

Shared Meals<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Acts 2:46, Luke tells us that the believers broke bread together in their homes. This probably refers to both to observing the Lord\u2019s Supper and simply eating together. In verse 47, he says they ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts and, at the beginning of verse 46, he says this happened every day! The early believers really liked being around each other!<\/p>\n

Shared Possessions<\/strong><\/p>\n

I mentioned this earlier, but Acts 4:32-37 goes into a bit more detail. That passage says that selling possessions to meet needs was a normal occurrence. This doesn\u2019t mean that folks gave up ownership to their stuff in some kind of spiritual communism, but it does mean that they held onto their possessions loosely and were willing to let them go in order to take care of the believers.<\/p>\n

Then Luke gives a concrete example of a man named Joseph, also called Barnabas (perhaps the same Barnabas who later accompanied Paul), who sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles to be used in meeting needs.<\/p>\n

The Necessity of Fellowship<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a popular saying, “There are no \u2018Lone Ranger\u2019 Christians. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.” God designed Christians to grow as they live in community with other believers. And this fellowship is meant to go deeper than simply saying \u201chello\u201d to someone at church on Sunday.<\/p>\n

What does this look like in a church in the 21st<\/sup> century? Does it look like folks selling their stuff? It might. It might look like a church taking up special offerings to meet needs within the body. It might look like a few couples getting together to share a meal and get to know each other better.<\/p>\n

Every church I\u2019ve encountered that needs to be replanted or revitalized has a fellowship problem. Perhaps there was a split or two (or five or six) through the years that fractured relationships. Maybe the church has a \u201ccountry club\u201d mentality that doesn\u2019t really allow outsiders to feel like they\u2019re a part of the family. Recovering a devotion to biblical fellowship is an important part of seeing a church come back to life.<\/p>\n

Here are some diagnostic questions to ask as you evaluate your church\u2019s fellowship:<\/p>\n