How Fellowship Works: The Grammar Edition

                                     By: Amy Richardson

Lewiston Tribune

[Richardson is co-director of young adult ministries at Valley Christian Center in Lewiston]

I'm a grammar girl.  Reading a passage in the Bible and dissecting the sentences to clarify or to learn something new is fun for me.

Inexplicably, grammar also makes me sassy and gets my finger wagging.  It's inevitable; you've been warned.

The word we're looking at today is "fellowship."  Fellowship is typically used as a noun, and nouns identify us and others.  In English, a fellowship is a group of people with shared interest.  Tracking so far?  Noun = identity.

Luke wrote in Acts 2:42, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."  "Fellowship," the noun does work here.  In fact, the word in Greek is used as a noun.

So, we're good?  Fellowship is what we are.

Nope.

The problem with stopping there is that we only get half of the picture.  The Greek noun used is "koinonia," meaning, "a partnership, contributory help, participation, sharing in, communion, etc. ..."  Did you catch all of those verbs?  Unlike a noun, a verb conveys action.  I know.  You never dreamed you'd get this much grammar excitement on a Saturday, right?

So, why is this important?  If "fellowship" is both a thing that we are and a thing that we do then, per Luke, they devoted themselves both to an identity and to action.

"Sure," you say.  "The grammar is cool, but we all know that Scripture.  Why did you threaten us with sass in the intro?"

Well smarty pants, a 2012 Gallup poll reported that of the 77 percent of Americans who identify as Christian, 64 percent attend church regularly and 35 percent self-report that they attend their church seldom or never.

Wait.

If fellowship is both an identity and an action but we have seldom to zero involvement with our church family, then we're doing it wrong.  (Please direct your attention to my photo and imagine some finger-wagging.  If you think I'm up to it, you may also imagine a head wobble and some snaps.)

What if 35 percent of children attended school rarely or never?  What if, when they did attend, they paid partial attention to the lessons, left early and never did homework?  They would still be school children but by not participating, they would not reach the full potential of what they can and should accomplish.  My dear 77 percent, that's us.

We read passages like Hebrews 10:24-25, "... let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing ..." without realizing that we are the "some" Paul referred to.

If we can really get this, the potential of the church is astounding.  "Every day they continued to meet together ... They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.  And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" Acts 2:46-47.

Let's get this.