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Lessons From Desert Man
The Small Church #13
Fellowship: The Lost Discipline
(Part 1)
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Prayer, Bible study, stewardship, and service; occasionally
fasting, and witnessing; with greater rareness meditation:
These are practiced in greater or lesser degrees,
by various members of the Christian faith, as disciplines
which benefit the individual in their quest for deeper
spirituality. Besides these, there are yet more disciplines,
which work for a positive conversion of the soul,
and carry us from disobedience to obedience, and from
shallowness to depth. But, of all the disciplines
of the Christian life, which remain neglected today,
there is one which having been neglected has created
a dearth in the landscape of our souls - Fellowship.
In some circles of Christianity, we place this discipline
among the most important. As such, it becomes recreational,
rather than something for which we are responsible.
Its practice is based upon convenience and comfort.
We fellowship with those whom we identify with, and
avoid those who challenge our personalities. But,
as Jesus said, "...for sinners also love those that
love them." (Luke 6:32)
Certainly, if our practices of establishing friendships,
and gathering together with others has not drastically
altered since the time of our salvation, then something
is wrong. It is not enough to exchange our beer and
pretzels for coffee and biscotti. There must be a
deeper transformation, at the level of our attitudes
toward others. It is for this reason, that I say that
there is a famine of fellowship in the land.
Here is where the small church comes in. True fellowship
can not be easily practiced as a discipline, in groups
larger than a family gathering. True fellowship requires
time. It requires communication. It requires a good
degree of informality, and genuineness. True fellowship
challenges our preset order of service, by cutting
through the masquerade balls we tend to assemble.
The small church can allow for the freedom of expression
required to begin experiencing true fellowship, and
thus become a leading proponent for saving the church
in America from its famine of fellowship.
Through smallness we begin to release the power of
true fellowship in the life of the church, but this
is only a beginning. In order to truly understand
how we might begin to establish the New Testament
practice of the discipline of fellowship, we must
begin with an accurate definition of fellowship. But,
you will have to read on to the next article, to discover
my revolutionary (in the war-like sense) thoughts
on that point.
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