Breath of Fresh Air

Scenario 1 - Fellowship

Scenario 1:
A brother, call him Tom, recently married off the first of two daughters – a big day for a guy, no doubt. On the eve of the wedding, he received 3 phone calls.

The first came from a business associate – a man whom Tom helped time and time again when he was in need, a man with no apparent religion but work and play. The message of this phone call: "Tom, I know tomorrow is a big day for you. And I want to help out. This latest business deal we had…I want you to take $10,000 from the pot and use it to have a wonderful day. I want you to have a fantastic time, and not think about the cost. In fact, make it $15k. Have a wonderful day, Tom – you really mean a lot to me."

The second phone call came from another business associate with whom Tom traveled from time to time – a Christian man, although one possessing doctrinal beliefs that differ from Tom’s. This man’s message was simple: “Tom, I don’t know what you need, but I want to help. I want to come over tomorrow (a Saturday which might have been spent with his young family of 4), and run errands/clean floors/wipe feet – whatever menial, thankless task you might have for me.”

The third phone call came from a fellow brother in Christ who was traveling a long distance (about a 15 hour drive) just to attend the wedding of Tom’s daughter. A longtime friend of the family, this brother simply called to let Tom know that he was thinking about him, was looking forward to the weekend, and was ready to help out in any way he could.

Who is my fellow? Obviously, it’s someone that I have a deep bond with. So what creates these deep bonds? Well – belief is certainly a part of it, but not all of it. Can we say that it's not very much of it?

Being around someone a lot is obviously a part, but not all. How about the following summary from Bro. Jeff Gelineau’s class at Ontario Christadelphian Bible Camp?

Cultivating real fellowship
1. Takes Honesty – just face the facts, and resolve bad situations (don’t ignore the 800-lb gorilla – I Cor. 5:3, 6, 11). In the end, people appreciate frankness over flattery.
2. Takes Humility – pride builds walls, humility builds bridges. Rom. 12:16 – “make friends with ordinary people.” (CEV) Humility is thinking about yourself less frequently, not thinking less of yourself.
3. Takes Courtesy – every group has at least one difficult person (think of a marriage) – real fellowship has NOTHING to do with compatibility – we are accepted because of mutual relationship with God – we are part of a family, so we DESERVE to be there. (and so does everyone else!)
4. Takes Confidentiality – people need a safe environment to share deepest weaknesses – doesn’t mean you keep silent; instead, keep “sensitive” issues inside a small group…God HATES gossip. GOSSIP DESTROYS FELLOWSHIP.
5. Takes Frequency – you need frequent, regular contact. Philippians 2:1-4

That's a lot of information to take home. There’s a really simple story in Luke 10.

Who is my neighbor? Depends…to whom do you act neighborly?

So what about "fellowship?" What about "friendship with the world is enmity with God?"