January 23 Issue-Reconnect in Christian Fellowship

 

The theme given to me is Reconnect. In line with this theme, I hope to offer some reflections on the whole notion of Christian fellowship. After all, the word “fellowship” is found in both the names of the Fellowship of Evangelical Students (FES) and Graduates’ Christian Fellowship (GCF). 

 

I would like to share with us three observations about the nature of Christian fellowship and will base my reflections on the first epistle of John, 1 John 1:1-4 ESV. 

 

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

 

The word “fellowship” that appears twice in v 3 is a very familiar word to us. It is a translation of the New Testament Greek word ”koinonia”. The word is also translated as “communion”, “partnership” or “participation in.” 

 

Used in the opening verses of 1 John, “koinonia” refers to the close association between believers in Christ. The emphasis is on what is shared in common. 

 

We have all taken time from our busy schedules to be here this evening because we share things in common. Unless we are guests here, most of us have the common experience of being members of various Christian fellowships at some point in our tertiary education. Reconnecting with people who share that common experience excites us. It excites us because what we share in common is of value to us. The FES/GCF experience has become a significant part of the history of our lives. 

 

But if what we mean by fellowship is merely a close association of people with a shared history, then we do not need to be Christians to be in fellowship. Members of a club share things in common with each other too. They can also be said to be in fellowship with each other.

 

The apostle John wants for us to grasp the meaning of fellowship in a far deeper way than simply a superficial sharing of things in common. There are far more significant realities that connect us than good company and good food and a common history. In fact, it is precisely these deeper realities that make our fellowship tonight not merely a social gathering, but one with redemptive significance. 

 

1. Fellowship in the foundation of faith

 

The first reality that binds us together is our fellowship in the foundation of faith. Verse 3: “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us.” Notice that fellowship is a spiritual reality that follows from the proclamation of the message about Jesus Christ. “That which we have seen and heard we proclaim”. The apostles saw Christ. They heard Christ. They proclaimed Christ, “so that you too may have fellowship with us.” (v 3) In other words, fellowship is a result of the gospel proclamation.

 

We cannot have Christian fellowship without first believing the apostolic message and sharing in the truths concerning Christ. The fellowship John was talking about includes fellowship in the apostolic message, the foundation of our faith.

 

We share that message in common tonight. Someone, somewhere, at some point in our lives, proclaimed Christ to us - that He lived and died for our sins; that He was raised for our justification. We believed that message and gave our lives to Christ. In our own context, we declared: “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back.” Having believed and responded in obedience to the proclamation of Christ, we then experienced fellowship with those who have believed the same gospel. 

 

Our pioneers were very clear that student ministry on campus and graduate ministry in society are both rooted in the foundation of our faith. Many of you will be familiar with the fact that something significant happened on the 25 June 1955. In the evening of that day, 26 graduates gathered at the home of Dr and Mrs Benjamin Chew at St Patrick’s Road. All of them were united by a common burden for an evangelical witness among working professionals in our nation.

 

I want to read to you some words from the late Dr Bobby Sng as he recounted what happened that night: 

 

“...many present that night voiced the view that if the Fellowship was to grow, there must be a clear and unequivocal commitment to the historic faith of the church. An additional clause was therefore introduced to the Constitution: ‘There shall be no amendments to the GCF Declaration of Faith.’” (Bobby E.K. Sng, To Whom Much Is Given: The History of Graduates’ Christian Fellowship in Singapore, 1955-1992. Singapore: Graduates Christian Fellowship, pp. 2)

 

What does that declaration consist of? Among other things, it includes the declaration of faith in the representative and substitutionary death of our Lord Jesus Christ for our sins. This is part of the apostolic message and the basis for membership in GCF and FES. An important reality that binds us tonight is our fellowship in the foundation of faith. 

 

2. Fellowship in the fountain of life

 

A second reality is our fellowship in the fountain of life, the very life of God. Verse 3b: “...and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” Here in the second part of v 3, we are led to the very source and heart of Christian fellowship -- the life of God Himself.

 

John does not mention our fellowship with the Holy Spirit here because his focus is on Christ. He is laying the ground to later address false teachings that dishonor Christ and so dishonor the Father. So only the Father and the Son are mentioned.

 

But we do know from other passages of Scripture that believers also have communion or fellowship with the Spirit. The apostle Paul, for instance, offers blessing in the trinitarian name in 2 Corinthians 13:14: “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” 

When he is appealing to the believers in Philippi to complete his joy by being of one mind, he refers to their shared experience of encouragement in Christ, of comfort in love, and participation or fellowship in the Spirit (Philippians 2:1). Our fellowship is not only with the Father and the Son, but also with the Spirit. We share in the foundation of faith and in the fountain of life, the very life of our triune God.

 

If the apostolic proclamation is the objective ground of our evangelical message, then our communion with the triune God is the heart of our evangelical spirituality. Everything else that we do emanates from this centre of life-giving, and soul-nourishing communion with God.

 

The apostle John is not referring to a mere idea or philosophy or some principle of Christian ethics. Fellowship with the Father, Son and Spirit is a relational and spiritual reality. It has to do with our friendship with God and our experience of God. 

 

Mr Robert Candlish, the 19th century Scottish evangelical theologian, puts it very well. Referring to the second part of v 3, he says: “The nature of the fellowship can be truly known only by experience.” (Robert S. Candlish, 1870, The First Epistle of John Expounded in a Series of Lectures. Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, pp. 11). There is a tendency in evangelical circles to downplay the place of experience in the Christian life. We tend to be suspicious of experience due to the excesses in certain quarters of the charismatic movement. We do a lot better engaging our minds and hands, than our hearts. 

 

In my time at Varsity Christian Fellowship and FES, we were big on inductive Bible study and missions. But other than the two or three spiritual retreats led by our then regional secretary, Mr Koichi Ohtawa, meditation of Scripture and extended times of solitude with God were quite rare. I do not recall them being promoted in any major way for the discipleship of students on campus or graduates in the marketplace.

 

But it may be different now. There is a widespread interest at the present time on spirituality. Hearts are hungry for more of God. The pandemic has a significant part to play in bringing about this hunger and interests in spirituality. But when we are hungry, sometimes, we do not really bother whether the food we are ingesting is healthy or harmful. We simply want to fill our stomachs. And just as there is junk food that compromises our health, there is spiritual junk food that harms the soul.  

 

Here is where the evangelical tradition has much to offer in terms of resources for deepening our communion with God amidst this current interest in spirituality. One example is Mr James Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, later renamed OMF International. By the time of his death in 1905, China Inland Mission had 825 missionaries, more than 300 stations of work, and 25, 000 converts. We are familiar with him as a zealous, activistic sort of missionary. But we are not very familiar with his life of deep spirituality. 

 

Towards the end of his life, he published a book that is very little read or known. It is a piece of spiritual writing entitled Union and Communion or Thoughts on the Song of Solomon. This book is a real gem. It gives us an insight into his inner life of communion with God. He captures that experience right at the start of the book in the words of a hymn by Ms Ellen Goreh that goes like this: 

 

In the secret of His presence

How my soul delights to hide!

Oh, how precious are the lessons

Which I learn at Jesus's side!

Earthly cares can never vex me

Neither trials lay me low

For when Satan comes to vex me

To the secret place I go!

 

He knows the secret place of the Lord’s presence. He knows by experience this fellowship with the Father and the Son that John talks about. Here is an example of a profound integration of deep spirituality with an active life of service. His example demonstrates the point that in our ministry, whether in the church or campus or marketplace, we need to pay attention to the formation of our inner lives. 

 

It is precisely his extended times of communion with God that gave strength to his labours for Christ. What about us? Do we know this communion with God by experience? Our fellowship is not only in the foundation of faith, but also in the life of God.

 

3. Fellowship in the fulfillment of joy

 

Thirdly and finally, what binds us tonight is also our fellowship in the fulfillment of promised joy. Verse 4: “And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

 

The joy that John is referring to here is not just any kind of affection. It is experienced only within the nature of the fellowship that we have been reflecting about tonight. It is a joy that flows from having known God in Christ in a saving way, and having known the fellowship of brothers and sisters, who share that same life of God. 

 

You will recall that in the Upper Room before His trial, Jesus had given the promise of joy to His disciples. “These things I have spoken to you…that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11) I think John had never forgotten this promise of his Lord. He repeats the same words in v 4, with one key difference. Jesus spoke: “These things I have spoken to you…” But as a witness to Christ, John writes: “We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”   

 

Has this promise of joy’s completion in us been fulfilled? Partially so. John does not say, “so that your joy may be complete”, but “so that our joy may be complete.” There is a corporate dimension to the completion of joy. Paul tells us in Ephesians 3, that it is “together with all the saints” that we are able to comprehend “the breadth and length and height and depth…of the love of Christ” and “be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18-19) What is true of love is also true of joy. It is in fellowship with all of God’s people that our joy will be complete.

 

As we gather tonight and reconnect, I can see that our joy is quite evident. But the completion of our joy still lies in the future. Our work is not yet done. The people of God have not all been incorporated by the Spirit into the one body of Christ. 

 

The FES and GCF ministries will continue to proclaim Christ on campus and in the marketplace. Because of our evangelical witness, more will share in the fellowship with God and each other and in that promised joy of Christ. But Christ is coming back. When He does, we will all see Him and be like Him. 

 

Tonight, our fellowship certainly runs deeper than good food and good company. For we share in the foundation of faith, the fountain of life, and the fulfillment of promised joy.   

 

 

 

(This talk was given at the GCF/FES dinner on 16 September 2022  at the Raffles Town Club)