4 Levels of Relationship (2)

FRIENDSHIP, FELLOWSHIP, STEWARDSHIP, PARTNERSHIP.
These are the four levels of relationship in a church. Each level has its value and validation but we must not stay at the lowest or most comfortable level. There must be a continual progress to a higher level so that our church can be a strong finishing generation for God and His destiny for our lives.

FELLOWSHIP

After Friendship, the second level of relationship in a church is Fellowship. While Friendship is casual, comfortable and often determined by convenience, Fellowship has a higher degree of commitment, communion and contribution. While Friendship is valued for its Affection, Fellowship is valued for its Appreciation (that means to add value, significance and importance to each other). At Friendship level, we think as friends but at Fellowship level, we think as a family.

It’s not how long we have been in church but whether we truly seek to belong. The difference is in the word ‘BE’. It simply means how much we have BECOME part of the church; BELIEVE in the church, BENEFICIAL to the church. It’s not how long we have been ATTENDING church but how much we are TENDING to the flock of God (John 21:15-17).

1 John 1:3

That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Fellowship must first be founded upon our relationship with the Lord. It is our fellowship with God that makes our fellowship with each other meaningful and strong. We can’t be unequally yoked together in fellowship with those who serve other gods (2 Corinthians 6:14). We can be friends because Jesus was also called a friend of sinners (Luke 7:34) but to be in fellowship is to be yoked together for destiny.

Fellowship must be built upon our agreement and alignment to the Word of God for us as a church. It is the Word of His power that will uphold all things (Hebrews 1:3). We have fellowship in the church when we embrace and understand what God is saying and doing in our own church. Apostle John told us that the process of fellowship is established when the people receive what he had seen, heard and declared to them. We must give priority and understand the purpose of the prophetic proceeding Word of God for our church instead of running after every sermon and ministry elsewhere. We are not looking just to be blessed, we are looking to build. As we hear and heed to the same sound of His voice (Word), our fellowship in church will be strong and vibrant.

1 John 1:7

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.

Let’s try to understand what it means to walk in the light. In Matt. 6:23 (also Luke 11:35), we are warned to guard the light inside us. How can the light inside us turn to darkness? In the following verse (Matt. 6:24), we are told that we cannot serve two masters. Our fellowship is established by our single-mindedness in serving God and Him alone and to fulfill His purposes for us individually and corporately as a church.

To walk in the light also involves loving and obeying the truth (John 3:21). God seeks for truth in our inward parts (Psalm 51:6). In other words, to have fellowship, we must be truthful in our thoughts, words and dealings with each other at all times. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

By God’s grace, let’s move on from the Friendship level to the Fellowship level.

GanKS