Fellowship

The church today seems to have failed to live up to one of the most basic purposes of the New Testament church- fellowship. I hear a lot of churches talk about fellowship, but genuine fellowship seems to have gone out the window. Whatever happened to breaking bread together? The church does not exist for people to come once a week, hear a sermon, sing some songs, pray, and put their money in the collection plate as penance. But as I look at the majority of churches today this is what I see. I want to break bread! We crave intimacy. It is human nature to desire to have strong bonds with other people. Why has sex become such a large part of our culture? Because it is one of the few ways we are still able to feel the intimacy we crave, even when it doesn’t achieve this genuine feeling, it at least provides a short-term euphoria. Sex has become the drug of intimacy. And what is the church doing to create fellowship? Little if anything. What happened to the days of church potlucks, Bible studies, and other church social events? When the New Testament church gathered they didn’t get together to sing and hear one person teach, they gathered to share with one another, to care for each other.  There wasn’t a minister standing up talking, there was a group of people taking turns sharing. They didn’t pass a collection basket, they shared with one another what they had- if one had an extra cloak they gave it to someone in need. If someone had extra food they shared with the hungry. The church cannot continue to operate as it is. We cannot force fellowship. We need to take the time to build the relationships, to share with one another, and to provide for one anothers needs. Until the church does this, we are not fulfilling our role in Christianity or the world. Let’s start with a Bible study that isn’t lead by one person and share a meal while studying the book of Acts.