Fellowship & Ice Cream
As a small church, we do a lot of stuff. This by itself is neither good nor bad — I suppose one could argue that it is far better to do something than it is to do nothing. Even if the something you are dong is the wrong thing, you learn from it. When you do nothing, nothing ever gets done, including mistakes. — Still, if we are going to do something, it is probably a good idea hat we have answers to questions like: What are we doing? and better yet, Why are we doing it?
These are questions we ask any time we set out to do anything. What is the purpose of the thing? While everything we do will generally have a main purpose, fellowship is often a secondary or tertiary purpose when it is not the main goal. Fellowship is such a vital function of the church, and the fruit of fellowship is absolutely necessary for a healthy and growing congregation.
Now do me a favor. Read this question and then take a moment to pause and answer it in your mind: What is fellowship?
Because this word is used a lot in the broad Christian conversation, it is often allusive and vague in it's meaning. How can we call a community group, a Sunday service, a dinner party at our house, and a pot luck lunch "fellowship." Those are very different things.
This is absolutely true, but they can and should all be productive towards our fellowship.
Let me start by re-framing the word, because I think it will be helpful to you. Lets first consider that fellowship was a noun before it was a verb. So, it is probably good to treat it as such: a noun. Fellowship is something we have as apposed to something we do. Much like the word family is a noun.
The word family indicates a grouping and bonding. There are many things we do as a family that support that bond, but we don't usually use the word family to speak of these things. When my family and I recently went on a vacation together, we did not say that we went "familying." I assure you though, the purpose of the vacation was primarily "familying." The main point was to be with each other and to participate in things which strengthen our bond and enjoyment of one another.
The word fellowship is similar in this way. Fellowship doesn't describe what we do, it describes a bond we share. Much like how, in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, a small band of unlikely friends was bonded together for the common purpose of moving the One Ring closer to its fiery end — we Christians are often an unlikely group of friends from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures who are bonded by our devotion to and purposes in Christ.
Thus, when we use fellowship as a verb, it ought to describe anything we do to strengthen that bond and further our Christian purpose together.
Fellowship as a verb then, can be many things. When we go to a community group there is generally a deeper sense of vulnerability as well as participatory discussion, encouragement, and accountability. All of these things help to bind us to one another and strengthen our individual and collective abilities to carry out the mission of our Christian faith.
When we gather on Sundays, while it is not the most intimate and transparent setting, it binds us in spirit. This is not unlike, though I would argue ought to be so much more powerful than, going to a sporting event or concert. Those gathered in the arena or stadium feel a sense of common bond as they share in the experience with one another.
Furthermore, the things we at RCC often do after service throughout the summer are geared toward the verb form of fellowship. This week, for example, is Sunday Sundaes. At face value this seems a little silly, and without a doubt unhealthy. I believe both of these face value assessments are false though.
First, I have been to plenty of churches where people b-line it for the door when the first note of the last song is struck. There is seldom any greeting of one another, or sharing of stories from our weeks, let alone the more rare and elusive deeper conversations.
So, things like a cafe ministry, comfortable furniture, and even the occasional Sunday Sundaes helps provide a space for those types of things to happen. Of course, one of these events does not usually result in a massive leap forward in the bonding of any congregation or group. Thus, a repeated focus on the fellowship is needed. When this happens, much like the power of compound interest, the effects of togetherness and bonding compound as well. This results in a much closer and strongly bonded group of Christians.
Whats more, is that the fruit from this strongly bonded group is too numerous to count. As this happens there will be an increase in so many positive cultural realities. People will more frequently and consistently bear one another's burdens. They will begin to shy away from envy and thus grow in their capacity to rejoice with one another. They will be able to disagree on non-essentials and sharpen or even change their positions at times through such discussions. There will be more genuine love, and less ego on aggregate. The list goes on and on. It's a very good thing.
Secondly, and very briefly. Yes, ice cream sundaes are more unhealthy than they are healthy. Still, having fun and enjoying the pleasurable things of this world in moderation is a good (providing that it is not sinful in and of itself). So, feel free to have ice cream for lunch this one day out of the year. Just don't make it a habit! We hope to see you there.
These are questions we ask any time we set out to do anything. What is the purpose of the thing? While everything we do will generally have a main purpose, fellowship is often a secondary or tertiary purpose when it is not the main goal. Fellowship is such a vital function of the church, and the fruit of fellowship is absolutely necessary for a healthy and growing congregation.
Now do me a favor. Read this question and then take a moment to pause and answer it in your mind: What is fellowship?
Because this word is used a lot in the broad Christian conversation, it is often allusive and vague in it's meaning. How can we call a community group, a Sunday service, a dinner party at our house, and a pot luck lunch "fellowship." Those are very different things.
This is absolutely true, but they can and should all be productive towards our fellowship.
Let me start by re-framing the word, because I think it will be helpful to you. Lets first consider that fellowship was a noun before it was a verb. So, it is probably good to treat it as such: a noun. Fellowship is something we have as apposed to something we do. Much like the word family is a noun.
The word family indicates a grouping and bonding. There are many things we do as a family that support that bond, but we don't usually use the word family to speak of these things. When my family and I recently went on a vacation together, we did not say that we went "familying." I assure you though, the purpose of the vacation was primarily "familying." The main point was to be with each other and to participate in things which strengthen our bond and enjoyment of one another.
The word fellowship is similar in this way. Fellowship doesn't describe what we do, it describes a bond we share. Much like how, in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, a small band of unlikely friends was bonded together for the common purpose of moving the One Ring closer to its fiery end — we Christians are often an unlikely group of friends from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures who are bonded by our devotion to and purposes in Christ.
Thus, when we use fellowship as a verb, it ought to describe anything we do to strengthen that bond and further our Christian purpose together.
Fellowship as a verb then, can be many things. When we go to a community group there is generally a deeper sense of vulnerability as well as participatory discussion, encouragement, and accountability. All of these things help to bind us to one another and strengthen our individual and collective abilities to carry out the mission of our Christian faith.
When we gather on Sundays, while it is not the most intimate and transparent setting, it binds us in spirit. This is not unlike, though I would argue ought to be so much more powerful than, going to a sporting event or concert. Those gathered in the arena or stadium feel a sense of common bond as they share in the experience with one another.
Furthermore, the things we at RCC often do after service throughout the summer are geared toward the verb form of fellowship. This week, for example, is Sunday Sundaes. At face value this seems a little silly, and without a doubt unhealthy. I believe both of these face value assessments are false though.
First, I have been to plenty of churches where people b-line it for the door when the first note of the last song is struck. There is seldom any greeting of one another, or sharing of stories from our weeks, let alone the more rare and elusive deeper conversations.
So, things like a cafe ministry, comfortable furniture, and even the occasional Sunday Sundaes helps provide a space for those types of things to happen. Of course, one of these events does not usually result in a massive leap forward in the bonding of any congregation or group. Thus, a repeated focus on the fellowship is needed. When this happens, much like the power of compound interest, the effects of togetherness and bonding compound as well. This results in a much closer and strongly bonded group of Christians.
Whats more, is that the fruit from this strongly bonded group is too numerous to count. As this happens there will be an increase in so many positive cultural realities. People will more frequently and consistently bear one another's burdens. They will begin to shy away from envy and thus grow in their capacity to rejoice with one another. They will be able to disagree on non-essentials and sharpen or even change their positions at times through such discussions. There will be more genuine love, and less ego on aggregate. The list goes on and on. It's a very good thing.
Secondly, and very briefly. Yes, ice cream sundaes are more unhealthy than they are healthy. Still, having fun and enjoying the pleasurable things of this world in moderation is a good (providing that it is not sinful in and of itself). So, feel free to have ice cream for lunch this one day out of the year. Just don't make it a habit! We hope to see you there.
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