Koinonia

This morning I met with a UMW circle and led a lesson on For the Love of God: The Epistles of John by Justo L. and Catherine Gunsalus Gonzalez. In the book, Gonzalez talks about the importance of Koinonia, a Greek word typically translated as fellowship. When we think of fellowship, we think of gathering together and enjoying one another’s company. It’s sitting around the table for a meal or talking with one another at a party.

But Gonzalez points out that koinonia was a term used to describe a business relationship, a partnership of sorts. The koinonia was similar to what we refer to as a corporation. So when the author of the epistle John writes to his readers that the reason for the letter is so they “may have fellowship with us that our joy may be complete,” he does not mean that they all need to get together and hang out, he means that they should partner up. They share a common inheritance and a common promise and they share this with God through Jesus Christ. I cannot imagine how this idea would effect early Christians. Most of the members in the early church were impoverished and struggling to survive. Many were slaves. These were not the type of people who were invited into the koinonia, most of them did not have the finances or the rights to own property or make business arrangements. And yet, here in this letter they are being told that they are in a partnership, a corporation, with God as the CEO. To say that they felt as though they had value and worth would be an understatement.

Though I doubt this is a new concept in biblical scholarship, it is the first time I have encountered this understanding of koinonia, and it has impacted me greatly. To think that we have this type of relationship with the Creator, that we are in a partnership with God, is a revelation to me. If this is true, then we have a common goal, a common vision with God. We should be working toward bringing the kingdom into fruition, letting Christ work with in us so that together we might change the world. We are supposed to be in a partnership with God, the question is have we been good partners? Have we really worked with God toward making God’s vision a reality? If I’m honest with myself, I doubt that I have. I’ve sold myself short, I’ve taken the easy way out, I’ve been cynical and haven’t fully believed in God’s vision. And yet, God patiently waits for me to come back into the koinonia, to come back into that partnership. Perhaps, this time I will.

Influencing vs. Embracing

When I woke up this morning, I immediately logged on to Hulu and watched some of the commercials that I missed during lasts night’s game. Every morning news show I saw had a segment about the Super Bowl ads. And when I came into work, My Yahoo! buzz bar had an article ranking the ads from best to worst. Since the late 90′s the advertisements during the Super Bowl have become almost as significant as the game itself, a testament to the power of pop-culture and advertising. Corporations pay up to $3 million for a 30 second slot during the game with the hope of creating a buzz-worthy commercial that will capture the attention of the average American consumer and influence how and what they purchase. Does it work? Absolutely, usually in subtle ways that we do not recognize. Advertising, whether it be on television, radio, print or digital dramatically influences our behavior and in many ways our opinions. If all things are equal we might select a certain product because of an advertisement we saw. However, if a rival product was cheaper or better in some way we would probably purchase it. Influencing a consumers behavior is okay, but what corporations really want is brand loyalty, for consumers to embrace their brand. When this occurs, the consumer will purchase their product no matter what it cost (within reason) or how it compares to other products. Embracing a brand also means that consumers talk to their friends about the product and the corporation. We as consumers are the most influential form of advertising for a corporation – we are the most effective means of influencing the opinions and behaviors of our social network of friends, family, and acquaintances.

This brings me around to our faith. So often we allow our faith to influence us – by this I mean that we let it guide us to some degree when it’s convenient for us but the moment something better comes along we’re pretty quick to put our faith on hold – but we don’t embrace our faith. Embracing our faith means that our faith doesn’t just influence us, it becomes us. We live our lives through it, we lead others with it, and we share it with our friends, family, and acquaintances. To embrace our faith means that we become disciples, followers of Christ who learn his teachings and carry his message out to the world. As disciples we are not simply followers, but are being molded and shaped to lead, to influence and ultimately to bring the kingdom of God into fruition.

This coming Sunday, February 13, we are going to explore the first statement in Arborlawn’s vision, “Embrace the challenge to lead and the faith to follow.” I personally feel that this is a monumental moment in life of the church and in the life of InSearch worship as we explore and define who we are. If you are around, I hope that you will come and experience worship with us at 11:11am. If not, you are always welcome to listen to our sermons online.