KOINONIA (Fellowship)

What is the Word?

As Christians, we hear the word “fellowship” used a lot. It may conjure up images of socializing, perhaps at a Church picnic or a “coffee hour” in the Church foyer. While these ideas aren’t necessarily wrong, they aren’t expressing the fullness of what it means to “fellowship” in the New Testament. The New Testament describes the idea of fellowship as koinonia (κοινωνία).

How does the Bible use this word?

While this might translate to English using the word fellowship, there is a sense of closeness and intimacy associated that might not be fully captured in our contemporary language. We use the word fellowship as a sort of catch all for any sort of group interaction that we have with other Christians. Fellowship can be anything from a reception for a baptism to the Church’s dart-ball league that meets on Saturdays. While there is certainly an aspect of the word that captures the collective, there is an emphasis on individual participation and sacrificial contribution. Within Koinonia, everyone is a member of the group fellowship, but everyone has an invaluable part to play and a contribution to make beyond themselves. A harmony is formed between the group and the individual. It might be described more accurately as a communion, becoming truly “members of one another” (Rom 12:5).

Where in the Bible?

There are several instances in the scriptures where we find the word koinonia. Perhaps the most famous instance comes from the description of the early church community in Acts 2:42: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship (Koinonia), to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Here we see the word used to denote the deep intimacy of the early congregation. In fact, it was common practice for early Christians to partake of meals together in which the practice of the Lord’s Supper was often included. The term Koinonia is also a very Pauline term. Paul uses the term often, but he uses it in a similar way to this manner in Philippians 1:3-5:  “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership (Koinonia) in the gospel from the first day until now”.

Perhaps the most profound manner we can see the word used are in the epistles of John. For instance, he describes the fellowship we share with the Father and the Son as a koinonia: “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship (Koinonia) with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). The apostle proclaims that the koinonia we share with one another is the same koinonia that we share with the Father and the Son. Because there is fellowship between the Father, Son, and Spirit, our fellowship is a participation of the fellowship between the members of the Trinity. Thus, koinonia is in some mysterious sense part of the relational nature of who God is. In his abundant love he allows us to become participants in this fellowship. Indeed, as Peter notes, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (1 Peter 1:3-4) through our unity with Christ and our fellowship with the Father and Holy Spirit.

Koinonia Today

We would do well as Christians to recover a more Biblically rich understanding of fellowship. When we begin to understand the participatory undertones of words like koinonia, we can begin to recover an understanding of true community as well as understand the ways in which God acts in and through his people.

Written by Drew Matz Live Together Staff Writer