What A Fellowship: Factors

We are in this together.

What a wonderful sentiment. Something happens that affects people. Those who it affects acknowledge that they are affected. That does not mean, however, that they are in it together even as they are all affected at the same time in similar ways.

Various people affected go through their reactions and responses to it. They might talk to each other about it. They might see each other from time to time. But that does not mean that they are in it together even as they spend time in each other’s company.

It’s when separate people affected agree together to share together and work together through what binds them, that the feeling of being in it together moves from sentiment to something meaningful and lasting. It’s when those individuals see something that is recognised more together than on their own and partake in shared actions that connect them and celebrate their diverse contributions that the phrase of being in it together carries weight and has great value.

The men and women were affected by His time serving others. How He healed, how He fed, how He taught and how He lived. They were affected by His life and they were affected by His death. They were affected to consider going into hiding. They were affected to look at how they could recover from the only light they knew being snuffed out. They were affected by His resurrection and brought together to become a community marked by the new life experienced by His Spirit.

This was not merely a sentiment. This was something that people became active participants in, sharing life together, on mission together, ensuring needs were met together, building each other and reconciling after inevitable breaks took place. From simple acts of eating together, to putting their lives at risk for what they believed in for others to be liberated to join this fellowship.

More than relationship, not just partnership, embracing companionship and fully incorporating stewardship are strands that define and intertwined depicts the earthly expression of a divine reality.

What a fellowship!

(Photo by Cynthia Magana on Unsplash)

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

C. L. J. Dryden