Quick, what is the difference between friendship and fellowship? If you have people over after church for tea then it is fellowship but if you have people over after a ball game it may be friendship if those friends are non-Christian or fellowship if they are Christians. Now the conversation may be exactly the same, the refreshments may be exactly the same but if they are Christians we call it fellowship instead of friendship.
Fellowship is much more than Christian friends. Fellowship is partners in the Gospel. Fellowship is much more like a partnership than a friendship.
Look at what Paul says about fellowship. "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:3 - 6
2 comments:
Actually the words are synonomous but we tend to use the word fellowship when talking about church friends and friendship all other times. Makes me think fellowship is more like church lingo. Never really thought about it before.
One practical application I have of fellowship is that it is spiritual friendship that I have with someone that I normally wouldn't have with an individual if we were not believers. It's easy to be friends with people who are just like me, or have the same interests as me, but fellowship is when we have those meaningful, intentional, diverse relationships with people who we normally wouldn't associate with.
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