Practicing Fellowship

written by Pastor Matthew Peterson, Associate Pastor of Open Door Church

Making Room for Close Relationships

1 John 1:3-4 - We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.

In this devotional I wish to focus on the word fellowship, as the author of this text stresses that such is the goal of their letter, which announces that God’s great victory in the resurrection makes fellowship with God and with each other possible.

What do we mean by fellowship? The Greek word here is koinonia, which means “close association involving mutual interests and sharing, association, communion, fellowship, close relationship.”[1] We are called, not to mere friendship or acquaintance, but to close relationship with God and with each other, and through that to experience joy made complete. This year our church has focused on a theme of “Making Room,” and what do we “make room” for if not folks with whom we can enjoy close relationship in Christ? We “make room” for those the Lord is bringing into our community, we “make room” for new neighbors and new relationships.

What is one thing that all relationships, new or long-lasting, have in common? They each have a beginning! If you are married, at one point you did not know your spouse. If you have children, there was a time they did not yet exist. At one point in time, you met your very best friend. For each of these relationships to become what they are today, you had to “make room” for someone new. Perhaps it involved rearranging furniture, your habits, or your schedule. Maybe it involved learning a new skill or even a new language. That process of “making room” might have been easy, or it might have been hard. But I can guarantee that you don’t spend all your time thinking about how much room you had to make – because you’re probably busy enjoying that close relationship. If it’s a good relationship, your joy is complete in it, and it was worth the effort to make room.

Now, there is a special type of relationship referenced in this text that does not come automatically in this world. In this world we have family relationships that are grounded in blood, and which can be good or bad. There are friendships based in similar interests, and those can be quite fulfilling. But fellowship grounded in the Lord as referenced in 1 John 1:3 can produce far more meaningful relationships. In my own life I have found such relationships to be the sort where I can share needs or frustrations and know they’ll be lifted up in prayer. Where the bonds aren’t kept in surface level matters that can be easily stripped away. And where I’ve been challenged to work through hardships rather than work around them.

In all this I am not saying that every Christian person you know is someone with whom you will naturally have a close relationship. But what I am saying is that the potential is there as we “make room” for one another in our hearts. And the reason why that potential exists is because of Jesus. Having Jesus in the mix transforms both what is required and what is possible in fellowship with one another. Because in receiving a sister or a brother in Christ, we receive Christ himself.

Hear these words from Christine Pohl, whose book Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as Christian Tradition helped shape our vision for this year:

“We offer hospitality within the context of knowing Jesus as both our greater host and our potential guest. The grace we experience in receiving Jesus’ welcome energizes our hospitality, while it undermines our pride and self-righteousness. The possibility of welcoming Christ as our guest strengthens our kindness and fortitude in responding to strangers.”[2]

This year we have a special opportunity to “make room” with the groundbreaking for Open Door Housing. The Lord has called our church family to “make room” in this way. He has provided vision and resources for affordable housing. And so, he calls us to make room, not just for a housing structure, but for relationships with those who will live in it. “Making room” in this way could be easy, it might be hard or even messy. But in doing so there are opportunities for fellowship with the Father through Jesus, and fellowship with each other in Christ. These are opportunities to make our joy complete.


[1] William Arndt et al., in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 552–553.

[2] Christine Pohl, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as Christian Tradition, 105-106

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The resources below offer more thoughts on the practice of fellowship and making room for close relationships.

Books

  • Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for His People edited by Charles E. Moore

  • Compelling Convictions: Finding Our Future in a Modern World, edited by Terry L. Brensinger, Jennifer Lancaster, and Alan Robinson (especially the chapter “Belonging to the Community of Faith”)

  • Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as Christian Tradition by Christine Pohl

  • Saved by Faith and Hospitality by Joshua Jipp

Web Resources & Videos

For Kids & Youth

  • KIDS - The Peace Table: A Storybook Bible, pages 82-83, 200-201, 230-231, 298-299

  • YOUTH - You Need Friends by Jake Thurston, https://www.youneedfriends.com/

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