Fellowship
When Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment in the Law, He responded with: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40). This constitutes our whole job description as Christians, loving God and loving our neighbors. Everything else that we do is secondary to this.
A few weeks ago the Lord told me that we had become known around the world for many things, but love was not one of them. The Lord's disciples will be known by their love. For years, I have tried to emphasize the first commandment in my life and ministry. Now, it is time to emphasize the second. If there is anything that our ministry become known for, my prayer is that it will be for our love, first for the Lord, then each other, the rest of the Body of Christ, and for the world that the Lord loved enough to give His own life for. As Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:5: "But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."
1 Corinthians 13:8 states that "Love never fails…" I think that every failure of the church in history can be traced to the failure to love. If we are going to succeed in fulfilling our calling, in our fellowship or our lives, it will be because we walk in love. This must be kept as the goal of all our instruction. This means that we must even be willing to lay down our lives for one another. When one member rejoices we all rejoice, when one is hurting, we all hurt and do what we can to help.
The Greek word that is usually translated "fellowship" in the New Testament is Koinonia. This word is translated "communion" in the KJV, which was originally the two words, common-union, merged to form one. The redemption, first the restoration of our fellowship with God, and then with one another. When there were just two brothers on the earth they could not get along. One fundamental evidence that redemption had worked in our minds have been fully redeemed and renewed; we will not only just get along, we will love and prefer one another.
As 1 Corinthians 1:9 states, "God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." This is our first priority, and is the single most important factor that distinguishes Christianity from all of the other religions of the world. True Christianity is fellowship with God. This is our greatest privilege, and should be the primary devotion of our lives. One of the greatest promises in the Scripture is that if we will seek Him; we will find Him. If we draw near to Him; He will draw near to us.
Our second great devotion is Koinonia, which is devotion with one another. This too is something that we must seek. Every fallen human being has many walls, wounds and barriers that hinder us from getting close to other people. Every relationship will sooner or later cause us some pain. Even so, love covers a multitude of sins, or transgressions. If we are going to walk in the fellowship that we are called to walk in, we must press beyond disappointments and misunderstandings, cover them with the forgiveness that we have been covered with, and keep seeking a closer walk with one another.
Let us always remember the Lord's example to us, who at the time He needed His friends the most, they deserted Him, betrayed Him, and denied Him. However, He never gave up on them. If we are going to be like Him we must do the same to any who mistreat us. Jesus knew that once His friends were restored this would all work to make them more faithful than ever. Do not give up on any one who does these things to you. Determine that you will love them even more. The greatest demonstration and the greatest victory of love will always come after a betrayal or denial. These are our greatest opportunities to love without condition.
Betrayals, denials, and desertion will happen at times to everyone in ministry. It will often come through those that you care for the most. It was through the Lord's innermost circle that He was betrayed, denied, and deserted. When those who denied and deserted the Lord returned to Him, they might make other mistakes, but they would not be unfaithful again. When we love others we do open ourselves up to possible pain, but let us determine to grow in love with every affliction. Then we will always ultimately prevail because "love never fails."
There will be pain if we love, but the benefits will always outweigh the pain. The church will ultimately be the greatest demonstration of fellowship, love that the world will ever see. The time will come when we will be known by our love. Let us make this our commitment and devotion.
By: Rick Joyner