Today I want to share a word about the church as a fellowshipping creation as I comment on passages from Galatians 5 and 6.
We have been looking at “Kingdom Qualities for God’s Church”. Today we will see how God has given us a task to be in fellowship one with another. As I began thinking about this message, I was reminded of what a seminary professor once told me:
The biggest church of all in the Southern Baptist Convention must be the “Down Home Baptist Church,” because I meet so many people who tell me that their membership is “Down Home.”
Just being a member of a church does not make you a member of a fellowship. I heard another story about this as well.
A pastor went to visit an absentee member of church upon the death of a family member. When asked how they worshipped, they said, “We watch Dr. Schuler’s ‘Hour of Power’ every Sunday. He’s so wonderful!” As the pastor left, he thought to himself, “Where is Dr. Schuler today?”
Fellowship is not just about “cookies and Kool-Aid,” nor is it about covered dish suppers, nor coffee and doughnuts. Fellowship is about becoming a tight-knit family in Christ. We need to be true members of a fellowship in Christ. Let’s see what the Bible says that should be like. Let’s begin with Galatians 5:24-26:
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit. We must not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
True Fellowship Means Bearing with one Another:
One obvious fact of life is that people have different likes, different habits, and different priorities. Take for example, the food preferences of different Presidents of the United States:
- President Ford liked cottage cheese topped with Heinz 57 sauce.
- President Carter made peanuts the official snack on Air Force One.
- President Bush ‘41’ did not like broccoli and banned it from White House menus.
- President Trump has been photographed eating a Big Mac and fries from McDonald’s.
No doubt, other President’s and First Ladies had their own meal preferences as well.
Our differences in taste and in other habits can cause us frustration. I personally despise yellow crook-neck squash, but my wife loves it. So, does she cook it for a meal knowing I don’t prefer it? Does she cook yellow crook-neck squash for herself and a different vegetable for me? Does she deny herself yellow crook-neck squash? I can’t confirm or deny any of those options, but I as a child I felt the same way about lima beans, and I can confirm that my mom cooked them for my dad who did like them, and I was expected to eat them or go hungry!
Humanly, we can, and we do, get cross-threaded with each other, often by accident, but sometimes intentionally. As one fellow missionary joked, sardonically,
Missionary service would be great, except for the locals and the other missionaries.
Therefore, we need to live in the Spirit of God as Galatians 5:16-18 instructs us to do:
I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
This means, bringing our passions under the Lordship of Christ. It also means fighting off the temptation to be conceited and arrogant, and learning not to provoke, nor envy one another. In short, we need to learn to bear with one another in our human frailty.
Let’s continue by reading Galatians 6:1-2:
Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
True Fellowship Means Bearing Each Other Up:
Although some of us are stronger than others, none of us is strong enough to withstand the pressures of this world by ourselves. Even Biblical saints needed the help of others.
- Moses needed the help of Aaron and Hur to hold up his hands to defeat the Amalekites in Exodus 17:8-16.
- Elijah, who challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel ran and hid when he was threatened by Queen Jezebel; He even asked God to kill him!
- Jesus sent out the Twelve to minister two-by-two, not one-by-one!
- The Apostle Paul did not minister alone, but he needed Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Titus, Luke, and, yes, even John Mark.
We Americans have inherited a spirit of rugged individualism, which today is exacerbated by modern technology and social media. The fact remains, however, as poet John Donne put it,
Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were;
As well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were;
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
We are all probably familiar with the acronym people make out of the word team: together everyone achieves more. This is really a backronym, or a reverse acronym, and much as I cringe when I hear people say it, the idea it presents is true in its essence. We need each other!
We need to help each other by encouraging one another in times of difficulty. We need to help each other by supporting one another in times of grief and sorrow. We need to help each other by reproving and correcting one another when we stray. As one old Sergeant Major told me when I was a cadet,
Sometimes people need a pat on the back and sometimes they need a swift kick a little lower down!
We also need to be willing to accept the help of others who offer it in the Name of Jesus. We need to learn to bear up one another in our human frailty.
Next, let’s read Galatians 6:3-5,
For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else. For each person will have to carry his own load.
True Fellowship Means Bearing Our Own Load:
Dead weight is the worst kind of weight. It isn’t helpful to a long-distance runner. It isn’t helpful to a long multi-engine coal train. It isn’t helpful to a jetliner. It isn’t helpful to a rosebush or a vine. That’s why gardeners prune their rose bushes. This is what Isaiah 5:6 tells us what happens when a garden isn’t pruned,
I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it.
And that is why Jesus said in John 15:6 that as He tends His garden, pruning is on the agenda,
Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.
We all need to ask the question, “Am I dead weight in my church?” We must examine ourselves. We must correct ourselves. We must make sure we are not dead weight, nor dead wood. We must ask “Are we pulling our own part of the load?”
One of the most dreaded physical training exercises in the military is Log PT. A team of five to six soldiers is assigned a log, usually a piece of a telephone pole, to lift over their heads. Then, in cadence, each team has to perform calisthenics with this log. What the troops find out very soon as that wood is heavy. They also find out that if everyone doesn’t carry their own part of the load that the wood gets heavier, and heavier, and heavier.
The same is true in our service to the church. We cannot help another bear-up to life if we are not bearing-up ourselves. We need to learn to bear our own weight in our human frailty.
Finally, let’s consider Galatians 6:6-10:
The one who is taught the message must share all his good things with the teacher. Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So, we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.
True Fellowship Means Bearing Fruit Together:
Why are we here? Why does God leave us on the earth after our salvation? That is a good question, and it bears some reflection.
In a “Peanuts” cartoon, Lucy asks Charlie Brown, “Why are we here in earth?” Charlie replied, “To make others happy.” Lucy then asked, “Then why are the others here?”
The truth is, our task is not to make ourselves happy, or to make others happy, but to make God happy. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20,
Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.
So how do we make God happy? This reminds me of the Jeff Foxworthy skit that made him so popular, the one that helps you decide if you are a redneck or not? Statements like,
If you’ve ever made change in the offering plate, you might be a redneck.
Or like,
If you ever cut your grass and found a car, you might be a redneck.
Or like,
If your dog and your wallet are both on a chain, you might be a redneck.
Or like,
If you’ve ever financed a tattoo, you might be a redneck
As an aside, I come from a long line of rednecks, and I have known many in my life. If you are a redneck, you know who you are and you don’t care if anyone else cares about it!
So how do we know when we make God happy? The Bible says that,
- When we live in harmony with each other, we make God happy.
- When we share our needs with each other, we make God happy.
- When we help and support each other, we make God happy.
- When we encourage faithful lives, we make God happy.
- When we have true fellowship, we make God happy.
- When we evidence the fruit of the spirit, we make God happy.
Paul gave us the secret to this in Galatians 5:22-25.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.
What are we to do? We need to lean on God’s Spirit to bear God’s fruit in our human frailty.
Conclusion:
Fellowship reminds me of a hand. As a tight, clenched fist, it can be a powerful force. As an open palm, it can be a beckoning invitation. Let’s us resolve to be people of the fellowship of Christ’s love today!
Every blessing,
Dr. Otis Corbitt
