Today I am thankful for my friends with which I have koinonia.
Koinonia is a term I learned in Bible class in college. I'm such a nerd when it comes to word studies. I think truly understanding the meaning of words in literary pieces is vital to gaining an understanding of what the author wants the reader to know, feel, or understand. This is also true of the Bible. This is vital to understand & allow God to speak to us & change us through His Word. (Preaching to myself here the most.)
To understand this word, I found the best/quickest word study in the article, "The Importance of Fellowship in a New Testament Church," by Bob Gillam. That can be found here: http://bible.org/seriespage/importance-fellowship-new-testament-church
My paraphrase: [ We look into history to better understand God's intended meaning of fellowship.
1) The English word "fellowship" is the translation of the Greek word, "koinonia." The root of this word is "koinos" which means to hold something in common.
2) The word describes a relationship that's dependent on more than one person.
3) "...'fellowship' was never used to describe Man's relationship to God before the Holy Spirit was given to indwell the church..."
4) Its New Testament synonyms show that the word is talking about a unity expressed both outward (with others) & inward (with Christ). The inward unity is most important.
5) It does not stop at inner unity because it is primarily an action word. Fellowship is not just being together, it is doing together.
6) It's not about being "in Christ" or "a part of Christ's body," but it's "doing with Christ." It is our partnership with Christ in fulfilling God’s will.
7) It's not just doing anything together, it's doing God's will together.
Now, putting these 7 points together, "...We can say that: 'Fellowship is a relationship of inner unity among believers that expresses itself in outer co-participation with Christ and one another in accomplishing God’s will on earth.'”]
So yeah, if you're wondering where the fried chicken is in this definition, I can totally relate. This Southern Baptist girl's mind was blown when I learned this.
The coolest thing about learning this word was the ability to recognize the people who fit into this description. My faith sets me apart, but my desire to do God's will in action sets me apart even more. I am incredibly thankful for the friends who share this desire with me so that I can do God's will with them.
Thank You Father for Christ, the Holy Spirit, ministry partners & friends, prayer partners, accountability partners, & all my friends that You've given me to accomplish Your will together!
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Ok so I have learned something today.... Koinonia...my new fav word! (now if I only knew how to pronounce it ;) so stoked to "fellowship" with my gals and super stoked to see what the Lord has in store for us! Remind me again why we didn't do this a year ago ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm super excited too! I know! We've been missing out!
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