Koinania

KOINONIA

 

In the New Testament the Greek word that is usually translated as fellowship is [koinonia], which is the Spirit's gift to the church. Today whenever we think of "fellowship", we associate it with coffee and sweets after a church service! This is definitely not the New Testament understanding of the word. We see this type of real fellowship in the Spirit displayed in (Acts 2:42), and referred to by Paul in several places such as (2 Cor 13:14), or (Phil 2:1). The church today is suffering a "koinonia crisis"!!  Part of this crisis is due to the typical church structure, which is designed to facilitate "pulpit to pew" one way communication. There can be little or no real fellowship in this type of structure. Someone has remarked, "the only fellowship we have is with the back of the head of the person sitting in the pew in front of us". In the NT church they didn't have this problem because they met in homes, in a very informal setting. Church buildings, as such, were unheard of until Constantine married the church to the Roman Empire in the fourth century. The other factor in this crisis is the fact that until people experience real koinonia, they don't know what they are missing. Some churches have "cell groups" or some type of small group that meet in homes to facilitate this koinonia, while some people are finding it in a new move of God known as "The House Church Movement".

 

There are two dimensions involved in true koinonia, a vertical dimension of the believer's fellowship with God, and the horizontal dimension of his kononia with other believers in the Spirit. A believer can have fellowship with God by themselves alone, but not koinonia! This is only possible in the company of fellow believers who are gathered in unity. In (Matt 18:20) Jesus said "where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them". This is certainly the basis of koinonia! We could list a few things that describe real koinonia. 1/ that fellowship among believers which the Holy Spirit gives. 2/ the fellowship Christ had with His disciples. 3/ the fellowship of the early church. 4/ the earthly counterpart and foretaste of the eternal fellowship we can look forward to. 5/ it is analogous to the unity, fellowship, and communion between Christ and the Father. A quote from George Webber sums it up "No relationship of love can develop unless there are structures in which it can grow". The koinonia we have been discussing can only grow when there are structures to nourish it! Let's seek to promote those structures that will facilitate this type of fellowship!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer