The Church has many roles. Oftentimes, it helps people with personal, emotional, and spiritual issues that they may be dealing with. Some churches help their people financially, and some help them by performing miracles, casting out evil spirits, and offering discipleship help. Nearly every church helps with the furthering along of their people’s faith, and some may see this as the Church’s main focus. But that is not the case, or rather, not the complete main focus of the Church. But rather, to bring people together, and build Christian fellowship, where growth and discipleship takes place.

On March 12th, 2020, Church gatherings were suspended worldwide. This didn’t stop everyone from meeting, but it did stop most churches. Here, we saw many people step away from the Church, and from their faith altogether, even though there were church and discipleship resources being provided, with many churches moving to church online. For many, the lack of fellowship in churches was a major issue, and it shipwrecked the faith of some. While leaving the Church and their faith was not the correct response to the virus, it became quite clear that fellowship was absolutely essential to the Church, and for people in general.

Church fellowship is crucial, and something we all must participate in. Sitting in the services together and worshipping together simply doesn’t cut it. We need to go deeper with other believers, and allow them into our lives, and it is time that we get real with ourselves, and see what exactly that looks like.

Why Do We Need Fellowship?

There are an array of statistics and studies to prove that humans need other humans in their lives. We can look at perhaps the freshest example in what happened with Covid-19. But we can also look at scripture to see that.

In the very beginning of the Bible, Genesis 1, God created man. We know this story, He created Adam in his image, and saw that His creation was very good. But, in Genesis 2, God sees something that many of us often fail to see. He saw that we needed someone else.

“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him”” (Genesis 2:18).

God decides that Adam needs another, and that he should not be alone. After bringing to Adam every creature that He had previously made, God decided that the only one that would be a fit helper, would be someone like him. This is where we meet Eve.

Some have used this as an example as to why men and women are made to be together, and I agree. But I also think that this shows how humans are made to fellowship together. As humans, we ought not to be alone, but we should be fellowshipping and communing with others, as well as the Lord of course.

What is Fellowship?

If you haven’t been a part of the Church for very long, or just haven’t heard this term, then you may be wondering what fellowshipping even is, and what benefits it has.

Fellowship is the gathering together of fellow Christians, in this context. It typically involves some form of discipleship and growth process. It can also relate to the fellowship that we have with God in Christ Jesus.

“God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

In a church context, however, you will tend to see fellowship take place in the form of small groups and life groups. These groups can look completely different wherever you go, but they are almost always a group of Christians that meet together outside of church to discuss the weekly message and the word. This is the most common form of fellowship within the Church and that’s for good reason.

Gathering together as a small group can be really impactful for your faith. It helps you to grow spiritually and emotionally, and it encourages you to be real with yourself, God, and others. This also helps you to form real relationships and get more out of church.

Benefits of Church Fellowship

You can fellowship outside of the church. In fact, that is the more popular way to get into fellowship with others. However, in your faith, it is important to grow, and others will help with that. As the Proverb says, “iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17).

Going with that, here are some of the benefits that come with church fellowship.

• Spiritual, emotional, and mental health. James 5:16 tells us this, “therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” When we are in community, we are more than likely going to confess our sins and pray together. In doing so, we will be healed, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally.

• Growth. This will sound self-explanatory, but growth happens in community. 1 John 1:7 tells us that those that are in the light, fellowship with one another. When we are in community, things come to light, wounds are healed, and growth begins to take shape. In solidarity, we grow weary, but in fellowship, we grow stronger.

• Life. In the book of Philemon, we find Paul writing to a friend. The situation that is discussed is quite dire, but Paul speaks of Philemon having refreshed him, and filling him with joy. We see him speak similarly about Timothy and Titus as well. Being in Christian fellowship and developing real relationships fills you up with joy and refreshes you. We’ve all experienced great friendships, but Christian ones, with both pursuing a common goal is that much better.

How To Get in Fellowship

You may or may not be convinced now, to pursue Christian fellowship. It’s difficult and getting yourself out there can be scary and nerve-wracking. But it is truly worth it, and something that every Christian should push themselves to do.

If you want to get connected with a small group or church community, reach out to your local church. Oftentimes, they have small groups readily available for church members to join, and if you are a member of the local church, it should be easy to get connected and find a small group that you like.

However, if you aren’t involved with a church, I highly recommend that you find one. Not every church is going to be right for every person, but you can always pray and ask the Lord to point you in the right direction! Once you get involved in a church, joining a small group should be a pretty quick process!

Final Thoughts

Church is essential, and an essential part of church is building community and fellowship. Look at your life at the moment. Are you involved in community? Are you experiencing refreshment, life, joy, and growth?

Getting yourself out there and involving yourself with others can be very difficult, but I speak from experience when I say that it’s very worth it. I used to be afraid to be in community, and timid around others, but finding fellowship has helped in enjoy life, get real with myself, and grow in my faith.

In whatever stage or season that you’re in, and with whatever you’re going through, it’s crucial to have Christian fellowship. Push yourself out there and get involved with others.

My prayer for you is this: that you would have the boldness and the faith to find Christian fellowship, and that it would bless you greatly.

Have a great week!