Last night in our Central Community Group (CG), apart from eating cake, chips and weird lavendar biscuits, we had a look at Philippians 1:1-11. We covered heaps of stuff, but what stood out for me was our discussion on “partnership in the gospel” (v.5). This was really thought provoking.

Why? Because the English word partnership is a translation of the Greek (the original language of the New Testament) word koinonia. What we found interesting is that the word koinonia is more commonly translated in the New Testament as fellowship.

Koinonia can mean partnership, sharing or fellowship. It was a word that was taken from the first century business world. It conjured up the image of two or more people who are bound together to bring about a shared vision – e.g. stakeholders in a company.

What does this tell us about true (biblical) Christian fellowship? Often we think of fellowship as two or more Christians hanging out together. Often after church, we stay and chat about sport or Master Chef etc.  But is this true biblical fellowship? Is this partnership in the gospel? Is this commitment to a shared vision? Hanging out as Christians, growing as friends can come under the banner of fellowship, but hanging out as Christians must be part of a bigger picture than just hanging out.

Partnership or fellowship is to partner or fellowship over something. And for Christians, the shared vision that we are stakeholders of is the gospel – the good news of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and rule (and everything this means for us and the world).

What does this mean practically for us? Last night we discussed the following: as well as hanging out and chatting about everything and anything, our conversations should be saturated with the gospel, delighting in God, sharing with one another what we’ve been learning from His Word, joining in prayer for the advance of the gospel (not least in the lives of those to whom we’ve been bearing witness), encouraging one another in obedience and maturing discipleship, bearing one another’s burdens and growing in sacrificial love for one another for Christ’s sake.

Partnership in the gospel means spending time together to bring about the same shared vision. Our fortnightly sport is an enterprise in spending time together for the purpose of growing as a group and connecting with others. So too is our Roma St BBQ’s. How else can we grow in fellowship? Let’s keep asking this question, and enjoy the results.

May we at 5:17 flourish in our fellowship as we connect with each other, and connect with others to connect them with Jesus!