Intended for Fellowship

Paul compares the outworking of the church, the fellowship of believers, to the human body. As with the body, the church has a certain unity in its diversity. Note how Paul frames this thought: "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many" (1 Cor. 12:12-14

Now Paul goes on to describe the inworking of the body, with a comparison to the fellowship of the church: "If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,' is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,' is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be" (vv. 15-19).

To make sense of it all, Paul explained: "But now indeed there are many members, yet one body" (v. 20). He then goes on to describe the situation, should the various parts of the body refuse, or at least fail, to work together. To have mutiny in the body, one member such as the eye telling the hand that he is not needed, or the head telling the feet that they aren't necessary, just wouldn't work (v. 21). The body could not function properly in that kind of situation. "No," declared Paul, "much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary" (v. 22). God made our bodies to work together as one unit, with no split of any kind among the members, so that "the members should have the same care for one another" (vv. 23-25). When one suffers, they all suffer with it. When one receives honor, they all rejoice (v. 26).

Do you see what Paul is saying here? Like the body, the church has many members, each uniquely created and gifted. No two members are exactly alike. Each one of us is unique, and we must use our God-given gifts for everyone's good, so that all profit from what we do as a member of the fellowship (v. 7). Every one of us is a cog in the works.

The church will not function properly unless every member does his part. The church is one body, the body of Christ. The body of Christ, the fellowship of the church, needs not only pastors and teachers, evangelists and missionaries, but just as importantly, those who mow the lawn, those who clean the church, those who prepare and serve the meals, those who clean up after the meals, and those who fix what is broken. For every need the church has, there is someone who is prepared and ready to take on the task.

We are intended for fellowship. God doesn't expect, or even want, anyone to be on an otherwise deserted island and go it alone. We were not designed to be "lone-ranger Christians." We were designed for fellowship, first with God and Christ, and second with one another.

In John chapter 17, Jesus prayed for us. He prayed, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me" (vv. 20-21). Jesus is speaking here of our being one with each other, as well as one with God and Christ. That oneness comes by way of fellowship. When we gather together in fellowship, we encourage each other in our walk with Jesus and we “stir up love and good works” (Heb. 10:24) in one another. That is the intended fellowship.

Colossians 3:16 says joyfully, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Read and study God's word daily, letting it take over in your life. When that happens, God's Word will flow through you and help you teach and exhort each other, encouraging each other in our walk with Jesus. The joy of such a life bursts outward with "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." It leads to heart felt singing of praise to Jesus. Amen.