Opinion/Resources/Christian Perspective

By Jenna Ditsch

Photo: Deposit

(If you missed Part 1 please go back and read it to get context for where Part 2 begins!)

Illumination

Let’s look again. Aha! The key lies in verse 7: “But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” Fellowship here holds a profound meaning, which I can explore further by examining the Greek term used, “Koinonia,” as found in Strong’s Concordance.

So, I look up the word. Koinonia encompasses a spiritual fellowship and partnership that goes beyond mere social interactions; it speaks to a deep, intimate bond shared among believers. Koinonia means a lot of other things, too. Let’s highlight just a few of the definitions that I see: “partnership, contributory help, participation, sharing in communion, the spiritual fellowship, a fellowship in the spirit (properly), and what is shared in common as the basis of fellowship.” The word also means, “partnership, community, association, community, communion, joint participation, contact, intimacy, the benefits of Christ’s death, the Mystical Body of Christ or the church, intimacy, proof of fellowship, and the intimate bond of fellowship which unites Christians.”

Reflection 

Wow! I grew up thinking fellowship was the small talk people did when sitting at tables for a potluck in the fellowship hall after church. I’m joking—sort of. But honestly, I didn’t experience fellowship as being all that in the Christian walk of my youth.

While I have experienced this kind of deep fellowship with a few individuals, I have not seen it manifest in the broader Christian community as it should. I’ve seen so much in-fighting, drama, and division. Ugh—are we all lying to ourselves and to the world when we present a message of love while gossiping about our brethren in the next breath?

Fellowship does not mean attending church, sitting next to one another in a seat once a week. It does not mean we occasionally get together for lunch. It does not mean we follow each other on social media and therefore we are “friends.”

Revelation

Western American Christianity—I’m talking to you (I’m talking to us). Where is the intimacy? Where is the sharing of things in common? Where is this life of fellowship, that God says, if we have with Him, we will also have with others?

In the book of Acts, we see the early church’s unity stemming from their understanding that everything they had comes from God. We see what it looks like, for a brief moment in history, to have true fellowship with one another in the same way that we have fellowship with God. One cannot exist without the other. Because the intimacy of the bond of unity through Jesus Christ was a part of their everyday lives, not just a once-a-week service, or a Wednesday night Bible study, they experienced the power of the gift of unity.

They lived out their identity as one body with many parts, exemplifying true fellowship in their daily lives. Contrastingly, many today live individualistic Christian lives, disconnected from the corporate identity of the Body of Christ.

So many have unknowingly embraced a counterfeit version of Christianity, pursuing personal success while neglecting the communal aspect of the faith. This individualism has led us to live in spiritual darkness, unaware of how far we have strayed from the true Gospel.

The darkness that is on the earth must be overcome by light. We just read that God is light, and in Him, there is no darkness. Yet, if we live our individual American version of Christianity from the comfort of our couches hidden behind closed doors—we live in darkness.

Application

The carnal church has fully embraced the idea of “The American Dream” and has made it gospel while rejecting the hard work of laboring in the harvest fields and avoiding the suffering of picking up our crosses and following Jesus into the darkness of death. This is the only pathway to life. We must die to self in order that we might live—but our comfortable lives have been a distraction and a deception.

We let out a rally cry of victory as we head out to conquer the mountains of government, media, education, business, etc. as individuals with flames atop matchsticks, thinking that somehow me, myself, and I will displace the darkness of the powers and principalities that not just inhabit these mountains—but built their very foundations.

Realization

The truth is most of us don’t live our daily lives in accordance with the fellowship that is talked about in first John. It hasn’t been the model by which the church has been governed for some time.

The “whole” needs all of the parts, but the parts apart from the whole—have no life. If we are disconnected from the Body of our brethren then we are also disconnected from Christ, the Head. True fellowship with one another is essential, as it is an outcome or a reflection of our fellowship with God.

Supplication

Oh Lord, let us come together in true fellowship and shine with the brilliance of Christ. Let us forsake individualistic Christianity and embrace the unity and fellowship that define the Kingdom of God, because if we don’t have true fellowship with one another, then how can we claim to have fellowship with you?

Many are walking in darkness, scratching their heads, and wondering why their light is so dim. Father, if all we little matches could but come together—then we would shine with the brilliance of Christ so bright that the world would finally know that you are love! 

Holy Spirit, wake us up. Shake us up. Light us up. As one.

Amen.

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The opinions in this article are specific to its author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire Counter Culture Mom team. 

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“No pain, no gain,” as the old saying goes. But what about when there seems like there’s a lot of pain—but no gain? Meet Jenna, an ordinary single mom, who had an extraordinary experience from “graveyard to garden” in the midst of a traumatic life collapse. In the span of a few weeks, she lost her husband, a close family member, her house, her job, and her dreams for the future. Jenna had reached the end of herself and had nothing left but a desperate plea for help, knowing that without supernatural intervention, she wouldn’t survive.

Jenna had a spiritual encounter in which she learned how the graveyard of all that had died in her life could in fact be the rich soil of a garden in which a new future could be grown.

Jenna is a versatile, forward-thinking strategist with extensive experience in education, writing, ministry, and coaching who desires to help the overwhelmed parent, educator, or writer desiring creative alternatives to “one-size-fits-all” parenting, education, and publishing.

 If you long for more but feel stuck settling for less, join Jenna on the journey to find God’s way through. Visit her website for more information!

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