Authentic Fellowship

I believe, contrary to church doctrine, that true fellowship is the outcome of our personal relationship with God, which must be our first and foremost desire. Like many now, I once believed that I had to be part of a church or fellowship in order to come to a relationship with God. When people find out that I’m a “son of God,” the first thing they ask is, “Where do you go to church?” or “Where do you fellowship?” I understand these questions, because I was once the person asking them. However, I now believe that organized fellowship can sometimes get in the way of our relationship with God, if there is too much emphasis placed on it at first. The reason too much emphasis is placed on fellowship, in my estimation, is that it is and has been out of order in the process God has for us. Also, does fellowship imply 2500 people, in a million dollar church, who are gathered together for two hours on Sunday and one other evening per week? By no means am I saying that fellowship isn’t important or not part of God’s will and plan for us! It most certainly is!

(If we consider some biblical examples, such as Abraham, David, Moses, Paul, Peter and even Jesus, then we should be able to see that much of their spiritual journey was spent one-on-one with God. Even when they were with other believers, they’re focus, attention and reliance was on God, not man. Is their focus on God what we see produced in organized religion today?)

If we consider Jesus and His disciples, we could surmise that this is the very definition of fellowship: “If it was right for them, then why not for us?” I don’t look at Jesus and His relationship with His disciples as fellowship, or at least not the way we fellowship (Organized-Denominational). Christ, was the Son of God, first and foremost! Yes, He was their teacher and fellow traveler, but first, He was their Lord and Savior! In that context then, they weren’t having fellowship with Him as much as they were building a personal relationship with the Son of God and therefore, God, Himself. I believe that fellowship, as we understand it, came when Jesus sent them out to minister in groups of two. Then they were more dependent on each other to carry out the task that He had given them. With Jesus, they were being taught, reshaped and molded, according to God’s will. When they were alone, in groups of twos, then the affect of steel against steel took hold (fellowship). The relationship with Jesus came first, in my opinion. Some might say, “But they were together with Him, isn’t this fellowship?” If I look at them, individually, then I see twelve men all looking out for their own interests. For instance, some wanted to know if they were Jesus’ favorite, one was stealing from the purse and would ultimately betray him. There are many more such examples. Yet, when Jesus sent them out in groups on their own, then they were dependent on each other, as well as on him. Their relationships with Jesus were established first, then He sent them out to do His Father’s will and experience fellowship.

Let’s look at some of the characteristics of fellowship, according to Paul. “Do not forsake the gathering together,” “As long as it is light, admonish each other daily that your hearts not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin,” “Bear one another’s burdens,” “Confess your sins, one to another,” “Have all things in common” and “Admonish, rebuke, reproof and edify each other,” through the Word of God. Needless to say, with these directives from Paul, we can see that fellowship is very important to believers! But do these directives come before or after we have established a relationship with God?

(I am not suggesting that anyone must remain alone until they have a firm relationship with God. Instead, what I am asking is, can the church, alone, and as we know it, be the final answer to truly experiencing God and His fellowship?)

Again, I believe that fellowship is the direct outcome of our relationship with God, which must be our first and foremost desire. If we don’t have a relationship with God, on a personal level, then organized fellowship may only become a hindrance to that end. I started out in church just like almost everyone else. I went to church for years and the only directive of Paul, on this issue, I ever heard was, “Do not forsake the gathering together.” Where are his other directives that I mentioned above? Why must we attend a set building with a set teacher to experience and seek these directives, and where, in the Word of God, does it direct us to do so in a modern or even early church way?

Let’s say that I don’t know you, and you’re a very important person. I have one person (pastor, minister etc), in particular, who claims to know you, and they claim you are forgiving (but with conditions), judgmental and are to be feared greatly. If I have placed my trust in the persons telling me about you, won’t I then be suspicious or even afraid of you? But if I choose to seek you out on my own (without presumptions) and get to know you personally, then I can come to my own conclusions about who, what and how you are. Why should God be treated differently than you or me? I believe we must seek to know God in a personal way, then we can decide who else knows Him for real: “Test the spirits,” how can we test the spirits if we are not in touch, on a personal level, with the Spirit Giver? A degree in Theology does not tell us everything about the Spiritual or personal life of the person! This kind of knowledge can only come through a deeply involved relationship. If we know God first, then we can examine others to know if they’re for real. We need to stop putting the spiritual cart before the horse, and we need to stop being led by the “…traditions of man that make void the Word of God,” as Jesus said to the Pharisees! God desires our relationship with Him. How can I have a relationship with God or anyone else, when I never try to personally relate to them?

Jesus, said to his disciples that his Father would send the “helper,” or Spirit, to guide them after he was gone. Jesus, never said anything about an owner’s manual (church doctrine), expensive buildings, ritualistic and idolatrous, religious objects, clergy/laity systems, rules and regulations, set schedules for gathering or, in other words, organized religion! In fact, when confronted by the Pharisees about breaking the sabbath, Jesus said, “…I am the Lord of the sabbath, also.” He also said, “I didn’t come to abolish the law, I came to fulfill it.” If the law, in all of its forms, including ritualism, has been fulfilled for two-thousand years, according to Jesus, then why are we still practicing a form of the unfulfilled version?

If I want to really get to know someone on a personal level, then I must take the time and seek them on my own. I can never get to know someone while I’m surrounded by two hundred, or more, other people distracting me. When I have come to know them in a personal way, then I can enjoy them with others. I believe this is true of getting to know God, also! Jesus, by the will of God, is our “All in all:” he’s not our clergy, building, sanctuary or denominational fellowship!

DB Williams
http://www.theoutsiderview.net/
http://www.seekingyaweh.com/

Author: D B Williams
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Originally posted 2010-03-11 23:57:09. Republished by Blog Post Promoter