Koinonia and the Acts 2 Church

Acts 2:42 - They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The last couple of weeks, we discussed the Acts 2 church and their ability to reach out to others with the good news of Jesus and what he did and who he was. We also discussed their devotion to the apostles’ teaching and our need to be devoted to the apostles’ teaching, which we find in their writings which is the New Testament of the Bible. Today, we are going to discuss the third aspect of the First church – the Fellowship.

We see from verse 42 that the new church devoted themselves to the fellowship. This word for fellowship is the Greek word “Koinonia”. It means, fellowship, communion, community. . It means a closeness of a group of people based upon the love they have for each other, which comes from the love they have with God. We see this in 1 John 1:3. There are people who don’t have God who are friends, but soon as something comes up, they stop being friends – when the friend runs off with the wife, when the friend never pays back the money, when the friend takes the job. These friendships are based on circumstances, the things going on in their lives at that moment. When these circumstances change, the friendship ends. Koinonia comes from God and through God. Koinonia comes by the miraculous. It is people loving each other even though they have major differences. It is people loving each other even though they do not agree. It isn’t loving everyone, it’s loving each other.

The first church fellowshipped every day. We may not be able to fellowship every day, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be in koinonia. You can be close to you sister though you don’t see her every day. You could be close to an old friend though you don’t see them every day. You can be close to a parent though you don’t see them every day. Daily physical proximity isn’t the number one requirement for koinonia. But we must have this loving community. This is true koinonia. Without this, then the church is just a bunch of people coming together once a week to learn and sing. This is not the church that Jesus built and it is not the way the first church was built

Christian fellowship is a key aspect of the Christian life. Believers in Christ are to come together in love, faith, and encouragement. There is no such thing as a solo Christian. If you are in Christ, then you are part of his Church, whether you like them or not. If you think you can be a Christian while staying away from Church, then you need to read the Bible a bit more closely. Jesus created his church and he has given us his Holy Spirit to build it. This happens through the gifts He gives us for the building up of His Church. If we are solo, then we cannot use the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts only work in the building of the Church – His House. Psalm 127:1 tells us that we labor in vain if we try to do it ourselves, but we need God to do it for us. Working solo by definition is working on your own power. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to build God’s kingdom and it is only found within the Church.

We usually mention Hebrews 10:25 at this point and explain that God calls us to go to church. However, this verse isn’t just saying that we need to go to church because it is good for us. It is saying that we need to go to church because it is good for the church. The church needs every part of the body and if one is missing, then the whole body suffers. When the writer of Hebrews tells us that we should continue to meet together, we are not wrong to think that he is telling us that we will benefit from going to church, but we miss a greater point – he is telling us that the church needs you and when you are not there, you are hurting God’s church. Exodus 17:8-13 tells how Joshua defeated the Amalekites by the power of God. When Moses held his hands up, the Israelites were winning but when Moses dropped his hands, the Amalekites were winning. Moses was too tired to keep his hands up, so Aaron and Hur held them up for him. If Joshua tried to go out and win the battle alone, he would have lost. If Moses tried to hold up his hands alone, they would have lost. If either Aaron or Hur had tried to lift up Moses hands alone, they would have lost. TO win the battle, all the Israelites had to fight, Joshua had to lead, Moses had to have his hands uplifted and Aaron and Hur had to assist in the holding up of his hands. If any of these don’t do their part, they lose the battle. This is the idea behind the coming together of the church. When Christians come together, great things can happen.

This is why Christian meetings are important. They allow us to experience koinonia during the meeting. It is the place that Christians can go and know that they will find other Christians with whom we can build koinonia-based friendships. Imagine if we didn’t have these meetings – where would you go to discuss what God said in his word or share something that God did for you that day, or pray for a loved one? Do you go to the mall and start asking people? Maybe a restaurant or coffee house? Of course not. You go to the Church! The first church knew that they could do that every day.

Koinonia is being in agreement with one another, being united in purpose, and serving alongside each other. Our koinonia with each other is based on our common koinonia with Jesus Christ. First John 1:6-7, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

So what does it mean to be in koinonia? Here are some examples based on the apostles’ teaching:

• Love one another (1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:11; 3:23; 4:7; 4:11-12). John 13:34-35 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." This one is so obvious and would need five messages to discuss that we will just make mention of it. I’m not lessening its value – the opposite. It is too great to throw in as part of everything else. However, for our purposes, we will be happy to say that koinonia is based on the fact that we love one another. Without this, there cannot be koinonia.
• Serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13). Yes we are saved because we have trusted on Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins and not because there is anything we have done that is good enough. However, that doesn’t mean that now we can go out and do whatever we want. God tells us that He wants us to serve each other. Yuck – God’s will and koinonia is that I actually sacrifice and work for my fellow Christian! Exactly – which is why love is needed to begin with. However, if we want to please God, if we want to experience Koinonia, then we need to be there for each other – even if it means disengaging from your comfort zone.
• Admonish and instruct one another (Colossians 3:16, Romans 15:14). Sometimes we need someone to tell us that we’re going down the wrong path, or that we can be doing something better. By knowing our Bible, that is what is meant by letting the word of God dwell in you and complete in knowledge and competent, we are able to help people become better. Too often, we shy away from this because we think that we are going to be offensive. That is a cultural thing. Not too long ago in this country, any person would tell a child that they were behaving incorrectly. Today, that would be considered off-base. This is due to the desire to let everyone have their own ways and be politically correct. We would never now tell someone that they should do something the right way because that would be offensive, we would be intolerant and narrow minded and overly righteous. However, in the church, we need to recognize that there is a right way that the Bible has shown us and we are actually called to make sure that our fellow Christians are walking down that path. To allow them to go their own way has led to a lukewarm church and a following of the Devil in allowing the ways of the world to become our ways. Part of our koinonia is admonishing and instructing and the other side of that is recognizing that when a person from our church tells you that you need to stop, change, and do, that we should not react the way the world would (“how dare they tell me that I am wrong and that they know better”) but should with humbleness recognize that we have just been shown the better way.
• Encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13). Another part of koinonia is lifting each other up. We will go through hard times. We need to be there for each other to encourage each other to continue on. Sometimes life can be hard. If we go and run away or hide from our church family, we cannot be prayed for, encouraged by the Word of God or by others who might have gone through this already. God uses things in our lives to help others. Someone may have gone through what you are going through and might be able to help you through this time. Or maybe this time it is your turn to help someone through a trial they are going through that you have already experienced.
• Forgive each other ( Ephesians 4:32). We are only Christians because we have accepted Jesus’ work on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. That is the definition of being a Christian. As a Christian, how can we not look at the magnitude of the work that God has done for us by forgiving our sins and not have the same compassion on others. Too often, Christians will hold things against other Christians without forgiveness. God tells us that we need to forgive each other. If there is someone in the church who has hurt you or offended you, God calls us to forgive. When we forgive, we don’t make others feel better, we allow ourselves to feel better. Lack of forgiveness separates us from each other. Forgiveness brings koinonia.
• Regard each other as more important than oneself (Philippians 2:3). In essence, many of these things can be rolled up into this verse. If we actually see others as more important than ourselves, we will forgive, encourage, admonish, teach and serve them. When we regard others as more important than ourselves, we allow for true koinonia, true fellowship, true community. We can love one another as Jesus commanded us.

In summary, there are many ways we can come together. There are many things we can do for each other. In the end, it is about the feeling of community, of koinonia – it is about the closeness we have with each other. If we want to be an Acts 2 church, we need to experience that closeness and the only way we are going to do that is by making it a priority in our life. Are we ready to change our priorities to allow the Holy Spirit to work among us. Remember, Jesus told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem. Could they have all gone their own way, had the Holy Spirit fall upon them and go out and preach the gospel to everyone where they were? Of course, but that isn’t God’s plan. God doesn’t have a plan for individual Christians. His plan is for the Church and He wants you to be a part of it. He wants you to enjoy the fellowship of being with others believers. He wants you to be there not just for your own good but because you have something to add, something to give. Will you make it a priority to build koinonia?

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Last modified: June 14, 2009