ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ, ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ, and Genuine Relationship
One of our pastors this morning described κοινωνία as "biblical community." I thought for a while this afternoon. "Community" is a pretty ambiguous word. I think for a lot of people it often means that people know my name, people with whom I feel comfortable, informal conversation, social belonging, a small group where I feel understood. If we're not careful though, we might miss that the earliest Christian community was defined by much more. Paul speaks of κοινωνία in Christ (1 Cor. 1:9), in Christ’s body and blood (1 Cor. 10:16), in the gospel (Phil. 1:5), in Christ’s sufferings (Phil. 3:10), and in material contributions for believers in need (Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:13). Christians do not first achieve fellowship by liking one another. Their relationship with one another arises from what they have already been given together in Christ. When three thousand people were added to the number of disciples of Jesus in Acts 2, what happened to them? Some stayed i...
