January 14, 2025 -- Aaron Batdorf
You’ve heard it before, or perhaps, like me, you’ve said it: “Join us for a picnic after the service for food, fun, and fellowship.” It’s a catchy phrase, and “fellowship” fits nicely as the third “F,” but what do we really mean when we talk about fellowship? For many, the word has become synonymous with simply being together as Christians. I grew up in a church that had a “fellowship hall,” and that’s where you’d find the donuts before the service. But is that all fellowship is? Donuts in the fellowship hall?
While donuts may bring people together, what really matters is what happens after they’re served. Biblical fellowship is about more than gathering in the same room—it’s about being together with purpose. So how should we think about fellowship?
Fellowship: Love Aimed at Christlikeness
Biblical fellowship is not just spending time together; it’s being together with the goal of helping each other grow in Christlikeness. Fellowship is love with a purpose—a shared commitment to help one another follow Jesus more faithfully. This is what the early church practiced in Acts 2:42 when they devoted themselves “to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Their fellowship wasn’t merely about shared meals or friendly conversations; it was about spurring one another on toward godliness.
This understanding of fellowship reminds us that it can take many forms. Fellowship is arriving early on a Sunday morning to ask others how you can be praying for them. It’s inviting someone to lunch after church to talk about the sermon. It’s joining a Bible study with the intention of encouraging and challenging each other in the faith. It’s sharing a meal with someone going through a tough time, memorizing Scripture with a friend, or praying with someone after the service.
Fellowship is not one specific activity; it’s about loving others in ways that help them become more like Christ. As you read the Word and pray, you grow personally, but you also prepare yourself to share those insights and prayers with others. The Bible consistently calls us to this kind of intentional, purposeful fellowship.
Fellowship: A Means of Perseverance
The book of Hebrews offers a powerful reminder of why fellowship is so crucial to our spiritual growth. Hebrews 10:24–25 urges us to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Notice the focus here: fellowship isn’t just about spending time together; it’s about actively encouraging and strengthening one another.
In this passage, the writer of Hebrews is addressing believers whose faith was wavering. What was his prescription for faltering faith? More fellowship. The answer wasn’t to withdraw, take a break, or figure things out alone. Rather, they needed to be around people who would “stir them up” to love and good works. True fellowship acts as a safeguard against spiritual drift because it consistently draws our attention back to God and His work in our lives.
Fellowship has as its God-appointed goal the deepening of our relationship with Him. When we share our struggles and victories with fellow believers, we help each other grow closer to God. The mutual encouragement we experience in fellowship is not merely a nice bonus to the Christian life—it’s a spiritual necessity.
How Do We Foster Biblical Fellowship?
Given the importance of fellowship, how do we live it out in our churches and communities? While fellowship can take many forms, the key is to approach our relationships with a Christ-centered purpose. Here are three ways to pursue biblical fellowship:
1. Help others draw nearer to God. This can happen through deep conversations about theology, diving into Scripture together, or discussing Christian books. The goal is to know God more deeply and worship Him more fully. Fellowship involves sharing what God is teaching us and helping others grow in their knowledge and love for Him.
2. Share what God is doing in your life. Ask fellow believers how you can pray for them. Discuss what God taught them through the sermon. Invite someone over for dinner and ask them to share their testimony. Following up on someone’s struggles or joys keeps you connected and opens the door for mutual encouragement. Fellowship isn’t just about getting together; it’s about staying engaged with what God is doing in each other’s lives.
3. Bear one another’s burdens. True fellowship also involves serving one another in practical ways. Whether it’s bringing a meal to someone in need or offering a helping hand during a difficult season, meeting physical needs can be a powerful expression of Christ’s love. As John Calvin put it, believers are gathered into “the Society of Christ on the principle that whatever benefits God confers upon them, they should in turn share with one another.”
What Hinders Fellowship?
While fellowship is essential, several barriers can prevent us from fully experiencing it. Here are three common obstacles:
1. Self-Sufficiency: The idea that we don’t need others to grow spiritually can be a significant hindrance. If we view our faith as a solo journey, we miss out on the gifts, encouragement, and insights others have to offer. John Wesley famously said, “There is nothing more unchristian than a solitary Christian.” We need one another, not just for our own growth but also for the growth of those around us.
2. Bitterness: Hebrews 12:15 warns us about the “root of bitterness” that can defile many. Unresolved conflict, jealousy, or wounded pride can create walls between us and others. Bitterness hinders true fellowship because it prevents us from lovingly seeking each other’s Christlikeness. Instead of building up, it tears down and creates division.
3. Wrong Priorities: Life is full of good things that can become obstacles to fellowship if they’re given the wrong priority. Hobbies, work, or social events can take precedence over gathering with God’s people. While these activities aren’t inherently bad, they become problematic when they cause us to neglect our spiritual community. Galatians 6:10 encourages us to “do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Prioritizing fellowship helps us grow deeper in our relationship with God and with one another.
Get Beyond “Everybody Knows Everybody.”
Rural communities are often tight knit but there is more to fellowship than simply knowing everyone. You might get together at the parade (is it just my community or is every random holiday an occasion for a parade in your town?) but until you move from pleasantries to purposeful relationships, it’s not fellowship. Gospel fueled fellowship goes beyond surface-level interactions and country song sentimentalities to the kind of deep, sacrificial love and commitment that reflects the unity we have in Christ. It’s easy in rural communities to fall into a rhythm of familiarity, where fellowship looks more like waving at each other from tractors or exchanging pleasantries at the post office. While these interactions are part of the charm and fabric of small-town life, gospel-fueled fellowship calls us to something richer and more transformative.
True biblical fellowship isn’t built merely on shared nostalgia, community events, or cultural traditions. It’s rooted in the shared experience of being united to Christ and, therefore, to one another. This fellowship involves more than swapping weather reports or reminiscing about old times. It’s about encouraging one another to press on in faith, holding each other accountable, and speaking truth into each other’s lives—even when it’s uncomfortable. It’s a fellowship marked by rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep (Rom. 12:15).
Moving Beyond “Country Song Sentimentalities”
Rural culture often values loyalty, hard work, and helping your neighbor—a mindset that can produce a strong sense of community. But community grounded only in these shared values misses the unique relationship that gospel-centered fellowship offers. As much as we might resonate with country songs about friendship, faith, and family, our relationships as believers are built on something far more profound: the cross of Christ.
Gospel-fueled fellowship calls us to:
1. Confront sin with grace and truth: In tight-knit communities, there’s often an unspoken rule to “mind your own business.” But biblical fellowship requires lovingly confronting sin in each other’s lives, not out of judgment, but out of a desire for each person to grow in holiness. This kind of confrontation isn’t harsh or condemning; it’s motivated by a love that seeks the good of the other person, pointing them back to the grace and forgiveness found in Christ.
2. Bear each other’s burdens: Surface-level interactions rarely get into the real struggles people face. Gospel-centered community, however, is marked by a willingness to enter into the messy, difficult realities of each other’s lives. It’s taking the time to listen, pray, and support one another through crises, whether that’s a broken relationship, financial hardship, or spiritual doubt. In a rural context where people often take pride in self-reliance, the humility to both give and receive help can be a powerful testimony of Christ’s love.
In rural ministry, where relationships are often long-term and intertwined with everyday life, the opportunity for deep, gospel-fueled fellowship is immense. But it requires intentionality and a willingness to move past the “nice” conversations into the kind of meaningful, spiritually edifying relationships that build up the body of Christ.
John Bunyan’s classic allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress offers a beautiful picture of the value of Christian fellowship. As Christian journeys toward the Celestial City, he faces many trials and challenges. Along the way, his journey is sweetened by the company of fellow believers who walk with him, share their experiences, and encourage him to stay the course. Bunyan describes it this way: “Thus they went on talking of what they had seen by the way, and so made that way easy which would, otherwise, no doubt, have been tedious to them; for now they went through a wilderness.”
This is fellowship: walking alongside one another, making the difficult parts of the path easier through mutual encouragement and support. As we invest in Christ-centered relationships, we grow together in faith, deepen our love for God, and reflect His love to the world around us.
In a world that often settles for shallow connection, may our churches be marked by a depth of fellowship that reflects the unity we have in Christ—a unity that transcends surface-level sentimentality and displays the radical love of God in every interaction. May we be faithful in pursuing true fellowship—love aimed at Christlikeness—for the glory of God and the good of His people.
Aaron Batdorf was born in Pottstown, PA but after attending Lock Haven University, God opened a door for ministry with Big Woods. Aaron is married to Brianna, and they have three children, Zadok "Zae", Eleanor, and Charlotte. Except for a year and a half away for education, Aaron and Brianna have been in Lock Haven since college and enjoy the outdoors, coffee, sitting on the porch, reading, and helping people follow Jesus faithfully by applying God's Word to all of life. Aaron has a burden to see people grasp the deep things of God and teaching others to go and do likewise through discipleship. Aaron is pursuing his PhD at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Comments