Fellowship in the Gospel

Philippians 1:3-5  “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;”

It is interesting to me that Paul begins his salutation to the church in Philippi by referring to himself and Timothy as “the servants of Jesus Christ” and the people of the church there as “the saints in Christ Jesus.” Saints and servants-both of these positions are privileged positions made possible only by our Saviour; we should thank God that we can be both! Verse 3 is a pretty simple verse to understand: Paul thanked God every time he remembered the folks in Philippi. In what way? Verse 4 says, “Always in every prayer of mine for you all.” And why did he thank God so often for them? Verse 5 says, “For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.”

Paul was a man whose life was centered on the Gospel; it was never far from his mind. Even when he was in prison, he viewed his purpose to be “in the defence and confirmation of the gospel” (verse 7). His perspective was affected by the Gospel, saying in verse 12 that the persecution he was experiencing was “unto the furtherance of the gospel.” Again in verse 17, he says he was “set for the defence of the gospel.” Then in verse 27, Paul encourages these believers to live their lives only “as it becometh the gospel of Christ” so that he could see them “striving together for the faith of the gospel.” And all of these statements are only in chapter one! So look back at verse 5-he thanked God for their fellowship in the gospel.

There are many things that we can use as a basis for fellowship with other people. Most of these things are superficial. For example, I can have almost instant rapport with someone who has the same interest as I do. Just last week, I spent ten minutes talking to a man about the state of Arizona, a place we both find fascinating! I love backpacking, so if I find out you do too, we immediately have a basis of fellowship, however superficial it may be. The danger for me, and for all of us, is that we can spend our lives “fellowshipping” with people over the trivial things in life, when we should be seeking out those with whom we can have fellowship in the Gospel.

We must not get caught up in making judgments about other Christians solely on the basis of where they went to college, where they grew up, whether they like what we like, whether we have the same personality, and the list could go on and on. Those things are trivial and superficial compared to our true purpose in life-to live and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to seek out those around us that are living for this same purpose; that is where the truest and best fellowship can be found!