When we talk about fellowship, we mean church, so the real question is, what is church? One of the most important truths you must know is that church is not a building. Your faith is grounded in Jesus Christ, not in some building.
A perfect analogy for what Church is, is the story of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. What happened when the Grinch stole the Christmas tree from the center of Whoville and when he stole all of their presents? Nothing happened. All the Who’s in Whoville held hands in a circle and sang their songs. Christmas wasn’t about the Christmas tree or all the presents. The same goes for church. The church isn’t some building. Its not a specific place at a specific time that you meet at. Church is fellowshipping with other believers who are all indwelt with the Holy Spirit.
Fellowship is getting together with these believers, sharing each others burdens, praying for each other (Hebrews 10:25). It is the mature Christian mentoring the younger/new Christians. Fellowship keeps us accountable so that we don’t fall victim to the folly of leaning on one’s own understanding. Fellowship unites us with Christ. It protects us from following false doctrines and mis-interpretations of Scripture. We are all parts of the body of Christ. We all have our God given role and must remember that separate roles doesn’t mean that one’s worth is greater than another’s (1 Cor. 12:12-17).
Now you must ask yourself, how am I supposed to find people to fellowship with? That is a good question especially in this day and age. There are many false Christ’s, false religions, etc. There are many religious groups who call themselves Christian but reject the Christ of the Gospel. So when approaching a specific congregation of believers, you have to know what to look for and you have to know what questions to ask. We live in a digital age so you can answer a lot of your questions by simply going to their website. These are the key things you are looking for:
Do they believe in the Essential Doctrines?
You can usually find this on their Statement of Faith page. If for some reason you cannot find a Statement of Faith, you need to email them and ask them if they hold to the Essential Doctrine. It is very important that you list each Essential.
Are they a specific denomination that lives in an echo chamber that will only acknowledge theologians and Biblical scholars from their specific denomination?
What is their stance on Homosexuality?
What is their stance on women pastors?
This is actually a hot button issue and many Christians are split on this. I consider it to be very important to know exactly what you are getting into. Most congregations that support women being pastors have what is called bad hermeneutics. They will use Eisegesis instead of Exegesis and read into Scripture what they want it to say. It may not be a deal breaker, but for me, if a congregation supports women pastors, it means they have taken one more step towards progressivism and away from orthodoxy
What is their stance on the Historicity of the book of Genesis?
If they reject Genesis as being a historical event, this means they do not esteem Scripture as the supreme authority for all truth.
How easy is it to get a hold of the head pastor?
You want to have a pastor who is accessible. Via phone, email, in the parking lot, etc.
How easy is to speak with anyone in leadership?
Are their “small groups”?
Small groups are a great way to grow in the faith. That is where real spiritual growth happens. Tight knit communities is how the original church started.
How hard do they press for tithing?
Some congregations are all about the money and you have to watch out for those. My stance on tithing is that it was for the Levites in the Old Testament and it wasn’t utilized for the Christian church. For more information on this, read this article.
Do they believe you must be baptized to be saved?
If they believe you must be baptized in order to be saved, that means that Christ’s death and resurrection wasn’t sufficient. We know this to be untrue but some believers have fallen prey to the lie that you must be baptized.
What is their stance on Politics and the Church?
The Christian faith is interwoven into every aspect of our lives, and this includes politics. If you find a church that says we should not speak about politics…if they say that the church should not get involved and should just stay silent about those matters and only speak about the Gospel, run. The German church, during the rise of Nazism, stayed silent and look at what happened there. Anywhere the faith touches, we must be involved.
Remember this, church isn’t about what you can get… no relationship should be like that and church is a relationship with fellow believers.
