the fellowship of His sufferings

What makes a church a church? The preaching of God’s Word is certainly the foundation of a good church. It is the power of God unto salvation. And the Bible says by the foolishness of preaching that men are saved. But just preaching alone is simply evangelism. And a church is more than just evangelism. It must also be fellowship.

The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia, which means sharing, communion, association and intimacy. So by the Biblical definition, the church is not defined by a building, or programs, or whether there is all the usual trappings of religion. The church is the body of Christ that is bound together by a sense of fellowship, or sharing in the lives of one another.

Paul used a phrase in Philippians 3:10 from which we can glean even more insight into this idea of what fellowship is about; “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings”. Now this certainly refers to our conformity to the death of Christ by dying to our flesh and the world. We may suffer some of the same things that Christ suffered, like loneliness, or abandonment or rejection, and we can have fellowship with Him through knowing that He also suffered those things and through His comfort. But I also believe that it speaks of a fellowship with the body of Christ, the church, as we suffer also with one another.

So how do we have fellowship with Christ’s sufferings? We can have fellowship with His sufferings by reaching out to other members of His body who are suffering. We are all members of the body of Christ.

1Corinthians 12:26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” So our spiritual gifts are given to minister service to the members of His body. And suffering is something that all Christians will share in, sooner or later. In fact, your suffering should equip you to sympathize with those other members who are suffering. Before you suffered, other’s suffering may not have seemed so significant. But as you suffer, it prepares you for being able to help others.

God comforts people with people. Even Paul needed human companionship. Even preachers and teachers can get despondent. Paul said in 2 Corinthians that he was comforted by the coming of Titus. We all need human encouragement.

As Paul finished up the first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 16, he said, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” Kissing may have been a cultural thing in those days, but as I was thinking about it, I realized that there may be something about kissing that should still be relevant to our church today. We need to be intimate with one another. We need to touch one another. You know, Jesus could heal with just a word. But very often, Jesus also healed with a touch. As people in the body of Christ, we often need a human touch. That willingness to get involved in one another’s lives in a physical, practical way is what is so often missing in our churches today. But when we are conformed to the image of Christ, and participate in the fellowship of His suffering, we should be found ministering to the needs of the body - the sufferings of His body - His church.

act like a man

Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 1 Cor. 16:13

Maybe you can chalk it up to the after effects of 40 years of social revolution. But the traditional role of the American male has been under assault since the hippy movement. Somewhere along the line, it seems that he became the fall guy for every ill of society. And while I don’t defend plenty of examples of wrong behavior or attitudes of men throughout history, I think societies emasculation of the traditional American male has had a negative backlash on our culture.

Today there is a great need in society for men to take hold of their God given responsibilities and start living up to the standard of our forefathers. And also there is a tremendous need in the church today for men to stand up and start acting like men. Paul in writing to the Corinthians said “act like men”, or I like the old English version, “quit you like men.”

Whether or not we want to accept it in our politically correct churches today, God gave the responsibility of church leadership to men. 1Timothy 2:12 says, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.” (Don’t get mad at me, God said it.)

And in the family God also gave responsibility for the leadership role to the man. Ephesians 5:22 says, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.”

I believe that if men were to take responsibility for the roles that God has placed in them, then not only would society be a whole lot better off today, but the church would as well. Paul obviously felt the same way. “Start acting like men”, is what he was saying through the Holy Spirit.

By the way, in spite of what some politically correct pastors have been saying lately, God is a HE, not a she. Jesus was and is a man, and “And He [Jesus] is the radiance of His [God's] glory and the exact representation of His [God's] nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power." Heb. 1:3

There is a tremendous need today for men to take the spiritual leadership role in their marriage, in the raising of their families, and in the church. “Be on the alert” means be watchful of the devil’s schemes to undermine God’s word, authority and plan. “Stand fast (firm) in the faith” means don’t be moved by every wind and wave of doctrine or whim of the culture – grab hold of the truth and stand firm! And finally, “Be strong.” Exercise your leadership and grow in the role that God has given you. Be mature. Don’t be weak in the flesh. Grow up and act like a man.

And no, that doesn’t give a man the right to lord it over everyone, but to serve them as Christ served the church, laying down His glory, His rights, His privilege to serve us.