On Fellowship -“Koinonia”
The word we translate fellowship in the New Testament is koinonia in the Greek. It is a simple enough word, a noun related to the word koinos which means “common”. It was used in Classical Greek to denote the intimacy of the marriage relationship. In the Bible, the fellowship of koinonia that we share is more than just togetherness. It is more than just believing the same things, as in a political party or a social club. It is a “being-in-common”, a sharing in the same life. We are part of each other. In our Christian fellowship we are one in immediate being, as Jesus and the Father are one (John 17:22). We eat of the same bread, we drink the same drink, we are born again into the same Christ.
The Son and the Father are one in being, will, and action. In the Trinity they are said to be ever making room for the other, so that the Father makes room for the Son’s glory to shine, and the Son makes room for the Father’s. It is like the Father holds the door open for the Son and the Son, having gone through, holds it open for the Father in his turn. They are continually deferring to each other, holding the door open for each other, glorifying each other: as we, too, make room for each other to shine.
In Christ we share our very essential being, members of the same body, sharing in Christ’s flesh and blood, nourished by the same sap flowing through the same vine, into which we are engrafted. The Bible word koinonia or fellowship might even be translated “oneness”. This being-in-common is the basis of the love we have for one another, a love that is so strong and distinctive that when the world sees it they will know that Christ is alive.