Scripture

If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

~1 John 1:7, NET

Quote

Biblical fellowship is never something done alone.

~Chuck Swindoll

The Greek word for fellowship is koinōnia and it literally means sharing. This sharing centers around something we have in common. For Christians the common factor is love for Jesus. For koinōnia to work properly, we have to be transparent and unselfish. The miserly and self-righteous will never get into real fellowship. One is to selfish to share and the other is too pious to confess.  A pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not confess our sinfulness. Many professing Christians are horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among them. As John makes clear, without the confession, there is no true fellowship. The scripture makes it clear, we are all sinners. John said, “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.”

Fellowship is two-fold sharing: we share with and we share in. Barnabas nick named ‘Mr. Encouragment’ sold a piece of property and gave the proceeds to the church. This is one form of sharing. Josh is in Africa and some of you share in that misson trip because you gave. Giving is a wonderful privilege and I am thrilled that June and I are a part of Josh’s ministry. He is both gifted and dedicated and what a privilege it is to help with his expenses. Many professing believers do not see it this way. They cringe when the opportunity to give is presented. Ananias and Sapphira wanted the glory that goes with giving but they were greedy and dishonest. They were not a part of the fellowship. I had a man erupt in a business meeting many years ago, he said, “Money, money, money, that is all you preachers think about.” No, it is not all we think about but Josh couldn’t swim to Africa and airline tickets are expensive. The bank doesn’t take faithfulness, faith, or charm: they want money. How do churches pay their utility bills? The people who give the least complain the most. But it is not just sharing  money, we can share goods, encouragement and prayers. Once this happens, we share in and share with. Some of the folks like Ananias and Sapphira were not in fellowhip with Barnabas. If you are going to get into this incendiary fellowship, you have to be honest and straight forward about your sin and your need of grace and they were not honest. They greed robs them on a wonderful blessing: that blessing was being in fellowship with Barnabas and the church.

I want to say a lot more but this blog is long enough as it is.

Extra

Kind of an old fashioned Monday. I am headed to work. My granddaughter will be my boss. I am helping Lexi in VBS. The old fashioned kind: Mon-Fri…8:30-11:30. Then Ty has games this evening in Cullman. I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading the blog. I want to thank my encouragers and prayer partners.