KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Fellowship
FRIENDSHIP IS BASED on common likes and dislikes...
Many equate "bar fellowship" with "Bible fellowship." Wrong! Bar fellowship dispenses liquor -- not grace, escape -- not reality. It is permissive, accepting, inclusive. Don't expect the bar to show up at the funeral. The bar does not confront you with the hard truth. Biblical fellowship elevates from common friendship. Friendship is based upon compatibility and shared interests. Friends can come and go. Friends are under no obligation when they are no longer friends. We are free to find friends who treat us better, but selfishness can bind us with friendships. You do no pick your brothers and sisters. Enemies pick you, but you pick your friends. Why? We can be guilty of using people rather than loving them. People are to be loved, not used.
That is why God called us into His body, His family. The church is not something you join; it is what God has joined you to ( Acts 2). We think we need a friend; what we really need is a fellowship (v. 42). Fellowship in the church is our identity. Personalities differ, but fellowship unites. Blood is thicker than water. Family is permanent; church is eternal. (Charles Hodge)
KneEmail: "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor. 1:9).