Devoted to the Fellowship
TCF Sermon
February 12, 2012
Let me start this morning by reading the Super Bowl translation of our primary text for this morning.
Giants 2:42 (NFLV) – They were fans of the Giants story, and were always together with other Giants fans for the Big Game, and shared tailgate delicacies, as well as fervent pleas to the god of their choice for a Giants win.
As I thought about this morning’s message, I couldn’t resist the thought of how we can learn something from secular worship. Now, of course, all Giants fans, or all sports fans, are not worshippers. Those of you who know me know I enjoy sports, and would classify myself as a fan for my favorite teams.
So, this morning isn’t a slam against sports, or sports fans in general. But can we agree that the national holiday – or should we say, holy day – of Super Sunday, illustrates something about what it means to be a fan, or better yet, a fanatic, about something?
Think of it. And not just in the context of Giants fans – we can find the same level of fan interest in different sports, college and pro, and even high school, almost anywhere in the country. There are clearly over-the-top and bad examples of this, but is there hidden in these ideas good examples of what it means to be devoted to something seen clearly in the sports fanaticism among some elements of our culture?
Why look to secular worshippers to learn something? Well, how often do many churches look in some ways like gatherings of Giants fans – or for that matter, OU fans, or OSU fans? I’m not talking about the yelling and screaming at the ballgame. I’ve heard and always hated that analogy - You know – the one that says: you’ll get all excited at a ballgame and shout and jump up and down, but why can’t you do that at church?
I think that’s a bad analogy. Do you really want to compare coming into the presence of God,where we give praise to the Maker of the Universe, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to a ballgame?!
It’s fine to get excited about worship, but it’s also OK to worship quietly in church, and then shout at a ballgame. That says nothing about one’s faith, or the reality or real devotion of one’s worship style.
I’m talking about other things that illustrate someone’s devotion to their team. As we think through what, for example, a sports fan can be like, let’s relate this to our faith and practice, and see if there are any applications. So be thinking with me as we work through this.
Of course, the word fan is derived from the word fanatic. Fanatic is defined as:
a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics. Devotee is a milder term than any of the foregoing, suggesting enthusiasm but not to the exclusion of other interests or possible points of view: a jazz devotee.
The definition of fan is: an enthusiastic devotee (as of a sport or a performing art) usually as a spectator - an ardent admirer or enthusiast (as of a celebrity or a pursuit) as in “science-fiction fans” probably short for fanatic First Known Use: 1682
We all know someone like this. Perhaps we are someone like this about something. With this person, everyone he meets knows about his love for The Team. He can make any conversation - regardless of its content or context - relate to The Team. He can make any interaction become a celebration of the favorite star player. The conversations he starts are about The Game.
What’s more, fans want to look like their heroes. They wear their jerseys. They buy the products their heroes endorse. They watch television shows breaking down every angle of their play. They want to know the details of their personal lives. Sports fans also attempt to pass their love of team on to their children. Don’t we see this? We see it of sports, but also of celebrities, or hobbies or activities.
Let me tell you about another group of fans. These fans, or devotees, were passionate, too. If you knew them, you knew they were devoted to their team – you probably didn’t have to ask.
Their conversations with anyone they knew often turned quickly to their love for the team, and especially to the superstar of their team. They wanted to look like their favorite player, too, not externally, as in wearing a jersey, but in attitude and behavior. They wanted their lives to reveal they were part of the team. And they definitely wanted their children to learn love for the team, too. Of course, we’re talking about the very early church. These fans of Jesus, the first Christians, were described this way:
Acts 2:42 (ESV) And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Here we see what was important, what were priorities, in the early church. Over the past several weeks since we began the New Year, we’ve seen an emphasis on most of these things mentioned in this verse, brought out in the various messages. We’ve been encouraged to re-emphasize our prayer life. We’ve been encouraged to live lives of repentance – that was a significant part of the apostle’s teaching.
The early Christians were devoted to four things:
1. Apostolic teaching, or doctrine
2. The fellowship
3. The breaking of bread
4. The prayer
Today, we’re going to look at what it means, and why it’s important, to be devoted to the fellowship.
In Jim Garrett’s conclave paper on The Meeting a few years ago, he noted something important about this passage of scripture. Context, and the original language, are so important. Jim noted:
And to the fellowship must refer to something definite, because of the definite article (i.e. the word “the”). It could not mean that these Jerusalem believers were devoted to the experience of fellowship, or just to fellowship in general. For one thing, the expression certainly conveys a commitment to the local body of believers, the community of the saints. Jim Garrett – The Meeting
So, the fellowship means, for those of us here this morning, TCF. Of course, there’s certainly nothing wrong with having real fellowship with other believers outside TCF – we all can and do that. It’s important to look at what the word devoted means here.
The word is translated “continued steadfastly” in the King James. It means they
persevered in, or they adhered to. This is the inspired record of the result. The word rendered continued stedfastly, means attending one, remaining by his side, not leaving or forsaking him. Barnes Notes
Here’s a Bible dictionary definition of this word:
To tarry, remain somewhere (Mark 3:9); to continue steadfastly with someone (Acts 8:13); to cleave faithfully to someone (Acts 10:7); referring to those who continually insist on something or stay close to someone (Acts 2:46; Rom. 13:6); used metaphorically of steadfastness and faithfulness in the outgoings of the Christian life. (Acts 1:14; 2:42; 6:4; Rom. 12:12; Col. 4:2). Complete Word Study Dictionary
So, our English translation devoted is a good rendering of this word. Devoted means:
zealous or ardent in attachment, loyalty, or affection: a devoted friend; characterized by loyalty and devotion
Let’s also take a look at the word translated here as “fellowship.” There’s a lot more to this word than church potlucks. The Greek word here is koinonia. In the context of this verse, it means: to share in. Fellowship with, participation.
In other words, as Jim has said, “we’re in this together.” And this means everything. We are fellow sharers of life in the Son of God. We rejoice with each other. We weep with each other. Our very lives are lives of one-anothering. We share all of life together, and especially those most important things of God that we highlight each Sunday, each Wednesday night, and each time we’re together outside of those Sunday or Wednesday meetings.
When we share meals with one another. When we meet together to discuss any work or business of the church. When we minister together, or to each other, outside the church building. When we visit each other in the hospital. When we pray with each other about problems or challenges. When we bring encouraging words to one another. When we’re at each other’s weddings. When we’re at each other’s funerals.
The word rendered fellowship, koinonia, is often rendered communion. It properly denotes having things in common, or participation, society, friendship. It may apply to anything which may be possessed in common, or in which all may partake. Thus all Christians have the same hope of heaven; the same joys; the same hatred of sin; the same enemies to contend with. Thus they have the same subjects of conversation, of feeling, and of prayer; or they have communion in these things…and (this) means that they were united to the apostles, and participated with them in whatever befell them. Christians feel that they are a band of brethren, and that however much they were separated before they became Christians, now they have great and important interests in common; united in feelings, in interest, in dangers, in conflicts, in opinions, and in the hopes of a blessed immortality. Barnes Notes
We’re a community. We’re a society of believers in Christ. We’re a fellowship. And Acts 2:42 says that the early believers weren’t just part of the fellowship. They were devoted to the fellowship.
Why is this important for us today? This is one of those messages that’s been rumbling around in my brain for months. I look around and I see so many of us about whom I could genuinely say, “they are devoted to the fellowship.”
But I wonder how many of us are not there – for whom that would not truly be a good description of us? Though there’s much more in what it means to be devoted to the fellowship, as we’re already beginning to see, there is a pre-requisite for all of us. We need to be here, in this place. We need to be together. And we need to be here most of the time.
Now, I could get up here this morning, and list a bunch of poor excuses for not being here. I could give a standard of how many times a month you had to be here to be truly devoted to the fellowship. But I’m not going to do that, because we want to be guided by the Word of God, and the Word does not give us such a list – a list that says: these are legitimate reasons to skip church, or not be really involved, and these are not.
But I will say what the Word does tell us. It helps us set priorities here, that each of us are then expected to work out, before God, in the practical realities of our daily lives. And one of those priorities is clear in this passage of scripture. They were devoted to the fellowship.
That may look a little different for some of us than it does for others. I guess I’d just like to see us asking the question more often. Not to get legalistic about anything – I don’t want to go there. Are we devoted to the fellowship – to our benefit, and that of those we call our brothers and sisters?
There are a lot of good reasons to be devoted to the fellowship – some of which we’ve already seen. But let’s spend a few minutes now looking at some specifics that take us beyond the general idea that this should be a priority in our lives.
Carl Trueman, a professor at Westminster Seminary, writes:
“Church involvement is absolutely critical for any healthy Christian life because it constitutes a basic reality check. Most Christians spend their weeks surrounded by people who are not Christians, being exposed to ideas, images, and values which are antithetical to Christianity, which sell us myths as if they were reality, which teach us that madness is sanity and sanity is madness. Time spent with brothers and sisters in Christ on the Lord’s Day is thus time spent resetting your moral, spiritual, and intellectual bearings. You need to be there; and in nearly two decades of teaching, I have never yet met a student who messes up badly at an intellectual level who did not first mess up at an ecclesiastical level, whether through wrong choice of fellowship or no choice of fellowship at all. Put simply: if you are not involved in a church, then do not look for sympathy when your life leaves the rails and dives into a ditch.” Carl Trueman
So, being devoted to the fellowship is spiritually protective. It’s a vital way God uses to keep us on track. Another practical reason to be devoted to the fellowship is that it teaches us to love like Jesus.
We are wired for connection. Genuine human flourishing is only really possible in community. Of course, real communities are messy and involve compromise and even sacrifice, which is why we try to make do with substitutes like the Internet. This connectedness is at the heart of Christian teaching about love: both for God and for each other. In our radically individualistic culture today, embracing that connectedness is maybe the most countercultural thing we can do. Charles Colson
So, there’s a truth that this one-anothering we’re called to do as part of the fellowship involves real challenges, because some of us are more loveable than others. But, because we’re in this together, because God can equip us to look beyond ourselves and care for the needs of others, we can learn to love, be shaped in Christ’s image of love.
But one of the things this shaping requires is that we’re devoted to the fellowship. And we can’t have relationships in the local church, unless we’re here, unless we’re connected in a significant way. And we cannot be connected in a significant way unless we’re here a lot, and involved in more than just showing up on Sunday mornings.
Let’s just highlight a few passages that help flesh out this idea.
Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 14:19 So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.
Let’s note a couple of things about this verse. First, it says, “let us pursue.” The NIV says “make every effort.” The Greek there implies “to follow after or press hard.”
or... to pursue with earnestness and diligence in order to obtain, to go after with the desire of obtaining
What’s implied here? First, that it’s not easy. Sometimes, pursuing peace with one another is difficult. Secondly, it takes effort. Why would you have to be earnest or diligent if it came easily? That’s another aspect of this “one another” life we’re called to as members of the same body, and as those who are devoted to the fellowship.
It’s not always easy. It requires going after these things with the desire of actually obtaining it. It requires diligence, perseverance, patience. But it’s worth it, because, note the results written of here: Peace with one another. And building one another up.
Our faith, our moral strength, our spiritual strength, is built up, it benefits, from our relationships with one another, as each of us pursues those things that build up one another.
Yes, staying in a local church can be spiritually challenging, because wherever you go, people are people, and will sometimes rub you the wrong way. It seems that many are no longer willing to face that challenge. This kind of growth in self-understanding, patience, kindness, faithfulness, takes place when we stick together, and are devoted to the fellowship, with all that means.
This is especially the case for those courageous Christians who stick it out through the messy process of interpersonal conflict. Long-term relationships are the crucible of genuine progress in the Christian life. People who stay grow. People who leave do not grow. We all know persons consumed with spiritual wanderlust. We never get to know them well because they cannot seem to stay put. They move from church to church, avoiding conflict or ever searching for a congregation that will better satisfy their felt needs. Like trees repeatedly transplanted from soil to soil, these spiritual nomads fail to put down roots, and they seldom experience lasting, fruitful growth in their Christian lives. Joseph Hellerman writes
Despite what we know about spiritual growth, nearly all churches in America are characterized by an unwillingness of members to commit themselves deeply to their respective church. For some, it means church hopping; for most, it means keeping the church at arm’s length—that is, living as if the individual’s life is primary and that of the church is secondary.
Social scientists have intensively studied the particularly pervasive loss of social capital and lack of genuine community that characterize life in America and its churches. They have concluded that we are a radically individualistic society, oriented toward personal fulfillment in ways profoundly more "me-centered" than any other culture or people-group in world history. It is our individualism—our insistence that the rights and satisfaction of the individual must take priority over any group to which one belongs—that has seriously compromised our ability to stay in relationship and grow with one another as God intends.
But the early church, again, was devoted to the fellowship. Now, we can tend to romanticize the early church, and make it seem more ideal or perfect than it really was.
However, if we do that, it can blunt the force of these verses. In our house church, we just completed studying the book of Acts. We saw God move through Paul and the apostles, as well as ordinary believers. We saw God accomplish all He desired in spreading the gospel despite the opposition and persecution.
But we also saw contention between believers. They were people just like us. So, while Acts 2:42 tells us that the early church in Jerusalem was “devoted to the fellowship,” we should not assume that this was any easier for them than it might be for us.
Surely, they dealt with similar challenges as we do – challenging personalities – people who are difficult to love. But the fact remains that they were described as devoted to the fellowship.
When we’re devoted to the fellowship, we’re following the pattern of the early church. When we’re devoted to the fellowship, we have more of an opportunity to use our spiritual gifts. We can find our place of service. When you’re devoted to the fellowship, you demonstrate a level of commitment to a spiritual family. It shows you’re more than a bystander. When you’re devoted to the fellowship, you can begin to develop a balanced Christian life.
We all have the tendency to gravitate toward extremes. But in the fellowship, we’re interrelated. We’re interdependent. This is a good atmosphere for growth in Christ. As we sharpen each other, our contact with other believers helps to bring balance. Being devoted to the church gives you the wisdom of an abundance of counselors.
Proverbs 11:14 (ESV) 14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
The fellowship is a great place to find this safety – we have older, more mature believers, mixed in with younger believers, and we can actually learn from each other. Being devoted to the fellowship helps us find the joy of serving others.
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
This happens in many places, but our local church is a great place to serve. John Piper said that sanctification is a community project. And that community, by God’s design, is the fellowship, the local church.
Our culture has a consumer mindset – and this has invaded the church. Consumers compare, they critique, they complain. But we come to church as communers, not consumers. We come not to consume, but to commune and serve.
Becoming devoted to the fellowship isn’t a burden. It’s a gift. And it’s a necessity. It doesn’t tie us down. It anchors us in life’s storms. Even the faults of the fellowship become opportunities to love and serve.
The late John Stott wrote: If the church is central to God’s purpose as seen in both history and the gospel, it must surely also be central to our lives. How can we take lightly what God takes so seriously? How dare we push to the circumference what God has placed at the center?”
This begs the question: Is our church just one of the things on our list of to-dos? Is it on the outskirts of our lives?
We began by looking at what a fan looks like – even a fanatic. We easily see what that looks like because we all have some version of that in our lives - it could be sports, music, a hobby, a club or activity. Nothing wrong with that.
But how is our devotion to the fellowship, revealed in our lives? I’ve adapted these ideas from Josh Harris’ book Stop Dating the Church.
First, we join – we become members. Following that, we make a genuine commitment. We put down roots. Then, we make the fellowship a priority. We build our lives around our priorities. Building your life around the church means making it the kind of priority that secondary concerns flow around, not over.
Our devotion to the fellowship is also revealed when we find ways to serve.
1 Peter 4:10 (ESV) 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
Serving is the easiest and fastest way to feel a sense of ownership in our church, and it’s also a great way to build relationships. We’ve said this before. Church is a team sport, but it’s also not a spectator sport.
Another way we highlight our devotion to the fellowship is to give. Think about this – when you get paid for work you do, that’s a tangible return on your investment of yourself. For the believer, giving is an expression of worship – recognizing that all we have is from Him and belongs to Him. Being devoted to the fellowship means it’s the first place you invest financially.
We noted at the beginning that people who are fans almost instinctively want to share that fandom with others. This is another illustration of our devotion to the fellowship. We share this with others.
Of course, since the entry point and reason for our devotion to the fellowship is our life in Christ, what we share first is our faith. We tell people about the good news, about the transformation in our lives. But then, why are we sometimes reticent to tell them about our family of faith too? When we are truly devoted to the fellowship, we do.
Let’s look at one final way we devote ourselves to the fellowship. We make the job of the church leadership a joy.
Hebrews 13:17 (ESV) Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Let me tell you a good example of this. And I share this story with permission. Most of you know Mike Brose. Mike and Maren have been at TCF for a couple of decades now. But there was a season in his life when Mike could not honestly say he was devoted to the fellowship.
The first sign of that reality in his life is that his attendance was sporadic. And Mike will admit today that it went much deeper than that. His walk with Christ was not as important to him as it once was. But several years ago, Mike hit a point of crisis, God got his attention, and turned things around in a significant way.
One of the first things this turnaround meant was that there was a newfound devotion to the fellowship in Mike. All of a sudden, after a period of sporadic attendance, Mike was here, and he was here a lot. And then, after many years of being out of involvement with house church, Mike once again added this element to his spiritual life.
I have to tell you, Mike is passionate about his faith. I can see that clearly in our conversations. He has a desire to grow in Christ. I was telling Jim Grinnell a few weeks ago how much it encouraged and blessed me to see Mike’s hunger for the Word, and his desire to integrate all of his life with his faith in Christ. It really brings me joy – just as it says in Hebrews 13.
But note what the end of this verse says:
Let them (leaders) do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Continuing with the illustration of Mike’s life – I can function as a leader of this church with joy when it comes to Mike, but that’s an advantage not just to me, because it brings me joy, but to him!
So, to take this analogy further and tie it to what we’re looking at today, Mike’s devotion to the fellowship brings me joy, and not groaning, and is an advantage to Mike, in all the ways we’ve looked at this morning.
Acts 2:42 tells us, “They were…devoted to the fellowship.” As we close, and as we anticipate the beginning of our missions conference next Sunday, let’s think about it this way.
The early Christians were devoted to the fellowship. And what happened then? They were trained. They were released into the harvest. And the harvest was indeed plentiful.
The most significant outgrowth of their devotion to the fellowship was a sense of mission, and the joy of seeing people both near and far come to Christ.
When we’re all devoted to the fellowship, we have a firmer foundation for what God wants to do not just in us, but through us.
Pray
