Acts 2:42 tells us the believers in the Jerusalem church were engaged with each other in four ways:
1) The apostles’ doctrine — which means they were studying the Word. Without a written New Testament, the apostles were relating their personal stories of Jesus to the new believers. In our gospels, we have much, most, or possibly all of what they shared.
2) Fellowship. More about this below.
3) Breaking of bread — they were eating together.
4) Prayer — they were praying with one another.
Let’s draw a bead on the second element, fellowship. The Greek word, as everyone on the planet has heard by now, is ‘koinonia.’ It’s a good word and basically refers to something that is shared. We sit at the table together and share a “common” meal. “Common” means we all partake of it. When I was in college, the big living room on the first floor of the dormitory was called the common room. Likewise, we have words like community, commune, commonality, and communication.
My Greek professors–all of whom are in Heaven and presumably none of whom read this blog–might not appreciate my free-wheeling take on “fellowship” or “koinonia,” but I think of it as simply “hanging out.” To “fellowship” is simply to spend time with others without an agenda.
We don’t do much of that any more. Not in life in general or in the church in particular. But it’s one of the best parts of life.
Each afternoon at the McDonalds a few blocks down the street from my house, the old guys meet for coffee and fellowship. Their wives are glad to get them out of the house, their adult children are glad Pop has some friends, and the men themselves may look upon it as harmless chit-chat, but the idea is the same. Hanging out.
I spent two hours hanging out at church this morning. Here’s what happened.