fellowship

"We were made for relationships and formed for God’s family. Being alone is not a part of God’s plan and yet we often run to the larger assembly for the safety of its anonymity. Some people (like me) go to large churches with the expressed purpose of getting lost in a crowd, and that does not bode well on our need for fellowship. Fellowship is scary. Relationships are complicated, but we don’t grow without them. We simply cannot be made whole alone.

We all need some people in our lives who will not give up on us — people who extend the grace of God to us because they have had it extended to them when they least deserved it. The Body of Christ is the most non-threatening place in the world, full of forgiveness, mercy, and trust, where, as Brennan Manning puts it, no one will “should” on you today. That’s why these small groups are doing so well. Once you’ve experienced this freedom and acceptance, it’s hard to stay away. And the added bonus of having all this happen in a common place has the benefit of an open witness to what Christ died to create." -John Fischer