"And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42-47)

If you want a verse that Christians will quickly declare doesn’t apply to us today, this has to be among the highest on the list (at least in this country). What do the words "church fellowship" bring to your mind.

My earliest experiences associated church fellowship with food plus something else, usually 42 (for the uninitiated, that’s a game played with dominoes that is similar to the card game Spades). At least we got the breaking of bread part down!

But what about the rest? 1 Corinthians 1:9 tells us we were called into fellowship by God. That is no small matter. If God has called us together in fellowship with Him, there is a much larger purpose in view than simply eating an occasional meal together. They were "continually devoting themselves" to these things.

Does this mean we are all to go out and sell our property to give the proceeds to others? No, but we should be willing to if the situation warrants. More than that, we should be eager to do so. To be sure, the Christians spoken of here lived in a unique time and in strained circumstances. Their land was about to be overrun by Roman armies and liquidating their assets in accordance with the warning they had been given was certainly in order. But their motives went deeper than that. (See Don Preston's The Land is Mine)

The birth of the new covenant assembly in Jerusalem found many Christians far from home who were so jubilant at the salvation they received that they did not wish to part company with one another. This put a tremendous strain on the local community of believers as they attempted to extend Christian hospitality which had its basis in Levitical teaching.

The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 makes it clear that no one was compelled to sell their property to meet the pressing needs. Nevertheless, many did sell off their excess property and others sold sacrificially.

I wonder what would happen today if we as Christians focused on how little we could get by with and devoted the rest to ministering to the needs of others? For example, imagine no need for insurance policies because we are mutually committed to taking care of each other. Should a particular community of believers be hit with more than they can handle, a call goes out to believers in other communities for assistance. What a powerful witness to the world that would be.

Imagine the multiplied billions of dollars that would be at the disposal of Christians to help others instead of lining the pockets of insurance companies that do everything they can to keep from paying up – but I dream. Fellowship really shouldn’t go that far, should it?

In 1 John 1, we are told that a sure sign of one being in fellowship is that they "walk in the light" and have nothing to do with "darkness." It is not surprising then that those first century believers devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and prayer.

This was a daily experience, not a weekly one. Is it any wonder that the vast majority of believers in our culture are essentially ignorant of biblical teaching? All that most get is a few minutes of a sermon on Sunday morning and in many cases that just uses a biblical text for a launching pad to tell a series of feel good stories and/or jokes.

Most Christians make no provision for serious study and it is hard to blame them. They have never been given the instruction they needed in the first place. They simply mimic what they have seen other Christians do and they are never told there is more.

They miss the blessing experienced by those early believers – that "feeling of a sense of awe" at what God has and is doing in their lives. Fellowship is reduced to food and fun and the opportunity for deep relationships with one another gets pushed into the background.

We were called to a common life in Christ (fellowship). Are we living it out or neglecting it? Chances are, your most treasured relationships are with those few Christians who are living their calling. May their number increase and may we always be among them.

© Copyright 2003 - Jim Wade

Updated 07/07/03