Fellowship In The Family Of God

Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me.
2 Timothy 4:9-10

In the world of athletics, there are two kinds of sports: individual and team. And woe to the person who joins a team but continues to play only as an individual!

Though Paul’s life was characterized by personal achievement, he rarely traveled alone; he constantly spoke of the “one another” responsibilities in the body of Christ and he established churches for mutual encouragement and fellowship.

Fellowship is not an option but an imperative in the Christian life, as William Biederwolf explains.

WALK WITH WILLIAM BIEDERWOLF
“I do not believe it is possible to be a good Christian without having godly friends.

“If I could find a man who was filled with the Spirit of Jesus, I would rather know him and get into the secret of his heart, and have the benediction and blessing that necessarily come from fellowship with him, than to have all that ever came to Demas through the decision he made when he quit the fight, quit the faith, quit the race, said ‘goodbye’ to Paul, and went off to Thessalonica.

“Better to have one Christian friend than anything the world might offer me. And this, in the first place, is what Demas lost.

“He lost Paul.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD
Paul knew that Christians need each other, so he gave instructions on how to treat one another: “Carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other” (Ephesians 4:32). “Love one another” (Romans 13:8).

As part of God’s family, you have the Lord. But you have something more: an entire family of brothers and sisters in Christ. Trying to live for him while ignoring them is a losing proposition.

And the loser is you!