"But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.'"
~Luke 10:41-42 (ESV)
The Privilege of Biblical FellowshipWhat a joy it is to serve and partake in Biblical fellowship--the drawing of one anothers' attention to the Creator and what He has done! When the Lord does His amazing work of regenerating one's heart from destruction to His child, a switch of center takes place. No longer are our relationships and conversations to be centered on ourselves and what we want or need, but on God, His attributes and character, Who He is, what He's done, and what He want to work in what He has created.
The Challenge to Biblical FellowshipMark Dever said it well:
"The call to evangelism is the call to turn our lives outwards--from focusing on ourselves and our needs to focusing on God, and the great truth about Him, and Who He is and about what He wants to do in His creation."
-New Attitude 2001
Though he is talking about evangelism in this context, this is very relevant to all of life and throughout our relationships in the church. I bring up a quote centered on evangelism intentionally, because if we are regularly, enthusiastically, and intentionally engaging in Biblical fellowship, it should effect the outward pursuit (meaning outside the community of believers) of evangelism.
The Shoot-the-breeze TemptationJoshua Harris mentioned that it is easy for hours to go by without talking about the One Thing that matters. This is true, and it provoked me to increase even more in being intentional with conversation. It is easy to gather and "shoot the breeze," meaning to talk about whatever comes to our minds at the moment, have feeling-oriented or feeling-led conversations, or never move past the surface topics like how our day went. It is not wrong to talk about how our day or week went, but if we never move on from that to deeper Biblical conversation on a regular basis, this is where the Lord would change us in His faithful reminding grace. And it is an exciting change that requires death to selfishness and turning our lives outward.
The One Thing NeededSo what is the One Thing that matters? Let's learn from Jesus' teaching in Luke 10:38-42:
"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.' But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.'"
As Jesus taught here, the One Thing needed is Himself! Yes! Are we falling more and more in love with Jesus? If so, we cannot resist Biblical fellowship. Let us be careful, in living the cross-centered life, to center our interaction with other believers around this One Thing.
The Domino EffectSo what about sociality? What about humour? Well, what I have found is that the social times and humour are inevitably more enjoyable when our relationships are centered around Biblical fellowship! It is quite a wonderful thing to enjoy social time together and humour as the effect of our relationships being built and centered upon the One Thing that matters--the One Who has saved our souls. In fact, it is because Jesus has saved our souls that we are even able to enjoy fellowship, sociality, and humour. It is the primary effect of what Christ has done that we can with confidence enjoy Biblical fellowship and the "side effect" (if you will) of a relationship with Christ that we can shamelessly enjoy social times and good humour together.
The Wedding Feast
We will, for all eternity, enjoy our Creator and we will feast together at His table! May our gatherings now (ooh! I'm so excited!!) be anticipation and a glimpse of what we will do together for all eternity--fix our gaze permanently on Him!
"Father, how excited I am that You have called us into a life for You--the one kind of life that matters! Thank You for revealing Your Son to us by Your Holy Spirit and bringing light to our once darkened eyes that were blackened by our own sin. Now that we are new creations, increase our desire for more of You and having You be the center of our very being and entire lives! Thank You, Jesus!!! Amen."
Challenge and Application Questions
- Are you regularly engaged in Biblical fellowship?
- How do you seek to cultivate and increase Biblical fellowship with other believers?
- If you are a guy, are you leading others (individuals and groups) into Biblical fellowship?
- If you are a lady, are you willingly engaging in opportunities to fellowship that arise? Do you support your brothers when they do lead? :]
- Do you also encourage others specifically to be intentional with Biblical conversation and fellowship?
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