Thursday, December 2, 2010

Life-Giving Fellowship

This blog will be about abundant life-giving relationship with God and each other (followers of Jesus Christ).  How do you do this?  How do you get alone with God to hear Him and to experience His love?  When is is best between you and other believers? What does it take for you to go below the surface to the real stuff of life?  Are you lonely in a crowd, or one of the rare ones who lives transparently in community with other Christians living in the room of Grace (John Lynch, True-Faced Message, click to download).  To what degree are you experiencing the "full-life" that Christ came to give in relationship with Him and other followers?

Ten years ago I asked a pastor I respected for some counsel in the midst of some spiritual turmoil in my life that had been set off and fueled in an unhealthy Church environment.  His memorable and wise counsel was this, "When Church becomes other than life-giving, you have to carefully analyze it to ask why, and then do something about it; either change yourself in the situation to find Christ, or change the situation to find Him.  Abundant relationship with Him is too important to be missed."

In the Bible the Church is clearly the Body of Christ, His followers in various locations.  In current nomenclature, The Church is a place we go to attend religious services and helpful programs, and to be with The Church (other believers).  Personally, I've stopped asking "Where do you go to Church?", and I have a hard time answering that question for the same reason; you can't go to something that you are.  I can go to a building to be with the Church, but I can't "go to church" anymore than I can go to Williams because I am already present wherever I am. 

I shared with a friend recently that Jill and I are hungry for fellowship with other followers of Jesus.  “We’d like to have opportunities to give and receive; both feel equally important.  We want to exercise our gifts for the good of others, but also to receive from God through their gifts."


Some of the fellowship* groups we’ve been a part of have been wonderful growing experiences!  Here are some memories that stand out:

-          Eating together and lingering at the table to enjoy relaxed sharing.
-          Telling and listening to each others life stories.
-          Worshiping with music (laptop w/ speakers or guitar/ piano)
-          Spontaneous prayer per burdens or crisis
-          Sharing scripture, and other reading that has been poignant and inspiring.
-          The Lord’s Supper
-          Each person with opportunity to share about their journey with the Lord
-          Shared leadership according to gifts, strengths and temperaments
-          Reference to the New Testament as an instruction for Body Life
-          Serving others according to their needs

*Reference Act 2:42-47, and I Corinthians 14:26 

Wayne Jacobsen says it like this, “Will people who are growing to know the Living God also desire real and meaningful connections with other believers? Absolutely! The call to the kingdom is not a call to isolation. Every person I've ever met who is thriving in the life of Jesus has a desire to share authentic fellowship with other believers. They realize that whatever they know of God's life is just in part, and only the fullest revelation of him is in the church. But sometimes that kind of fellowship is not easy to find. Periodically on this journey we may go through times when we can't seem to find any other believers who share our hunger…My favorite expression of body life is where a local group of people chooses to walk together for a bit of the journey by cultivating close friendships and learning how to listen to God together 

Where are you on the journey with God?  Have you found life-giving fellowship with Him and others?  If so, please share where and how.  Or maybe you are in search of this.  What is fueling your hunger?
On the journey, Jeff

2 comments:

  1. I've found life-giving fellowship comes and goes in my life, even often when I'm in fellowship with the same people (and, of course the same God). I also note that the vision I have for those relationships is never the same as the reality of them no matter how good they are.

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  2. Hey Shawn, thanks for reading and commenting. I'm curious about what you have discovered/decided about the ebb and flow of fellowship, and what you mean by the vision you have and the reality? I think it was Henri Nouwen who talked about loving the idea of fellowship but not actually liking the reality very much because it could include disappointment, conflict, etc....all the stuff that comes with broken people allowing themselves to be known to each other.

    would love to hear more!

    blessings, Jeff

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