Webster defines the word fellowship as, “companionship; friendly association; a mutual sharing, as of experience, activity, interest, etc.” Like many other words, there is a common use and a Scriptural use, and often they are quite different. Webster defines the word baptism as “immersing the individual in water or by pouring or sprinkling water on the individual.” He defines words as they are commonly used, but that does not mean that the Bible used the words in those ways.

James W. Adams wrote about a church that advertised “Family Fellowship Night” meaning a night for fun and feasting. He said: “This brought to mind what had been told me by a faithful preacher in a large Southwest Texas city some thirteen years before. This was long before the current ‘fellowship’ craze among professed churches of Christ. What the preacher related to me at that time involved an isolated case, an exception. Now it might be regarded as the rule rather than an exception. One of the large congregations in the city had embraced what is known as ‘the whole man concept’ - that churches have the divine obligation to develop the whole man, physically, intellectually, morally, and spiritually. In other words, the ‘Social Gospel’ concept. My preacher-friend dropped by the building of this church one evening quite by accident and found ‘fun and food’ being dispensed to a large crowd. The basement ‘fellowship hall’ was filled to overflowing with the members of the congregation. A few weeks after this occurred, the preacher of this church was to be out of town on Wednesday evening and invited my friend to preach to their Wednesday evening assembly. He spoke to less than thirty people.

     Aesop tells the story of a metal worker who had a small dog. While the metal worker hammered away at his work, the dog slept. When the work was finished and the man sat down to eat his dinner, the dog immediately awoke. ‘Sluggard cur!’ said the man, throwing the dog a bone. ‘You sleep through the noise of the hammer and anvil. But wake up at the first clatter of my teeth.’

The term ‘fellowship’ in the New Testament is never used to describe the social entertainment of Christians. It describes mutual sharing or participation in spiritual matters, such as praying, singing, instruction in the Scriptures, the Lord’s supper, and dispensing aid to poor saints. Fellowship in the New Testament sense of the word leaves many modern, professed Christians cold as a cucumber. They sing half-heartedly, pray inattentively, sleep through the sermon, and complain about the length of the service. The sound of the singing, the praying, and the teaching wakes them not spiritually, but when the ‘clatter of teeth’ in the ‘fellowship hall’ begins, they instantly awake and zealously partake. Afterwards, we hear them praising the ‘wonderful fellowship hour’ - the food and frolic, but never a word concerning the spiritual nourishment and the inward joy which they received from the preaching, the prayers, and the praise of God during the hour of spiritual worship” (Words Fitly Spoken, pg. 50,51).

The word fellowship (koinonia) appears a dozen times in the New Testament, but it never refers to social meals and certainly not to “church socials.” The Jerusalem church “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). Paul told the Corinthians that God had called them “into the fellowship of His Son” (1 Cor. 1:9). Later, he commended them for “the fellowship of the ministering to the saints” (2 Cor. 8:4). He told the Galatians that he had “received the right hand of fellowship” (Gal. 2:9), and told the Ephesians that he made all people see “what is the fellowship of the mystery” (Eph. 3:9). John said that he preached the gospel so “you also may have fellowship with us” (1 Jn. 1:3). Does any of this sound like a pot-luck meal or a ball game?

The word partner (koinonos) is used of “James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon” in the fishing business (Lk. 5:10). This was obviously not a spiritual business, but it does not authorize churches to provide businesses—unless the church can do what the individual can do!

The word fellowship does not authorize churches to provide food (for those not destitute), nor fun and recreation.