Fourth Word: Koinonia

Openness, prayer and obedience. Those are the three words we have talked about. They are all things needed to grasp and live the kingdom life. But now for our last word we leave the English language and turn to Greek. Our final word is koinonia. No one English word really translates it. It is rendered "fellowship" in Acts 2, "partnership" in Philippians 1, and "participation" (or "communion") in 1 Corinthians 11. The nearly extinct New English Bible may have it best when it renders it as "sharing together in the common life" in Acts 2:42.

As we seek the kingdom, that is, as we seek to live the kingdom life, that is as we seek to live the Sermon on the Mount and other kingdom teachings of Jesus, let us say it loud and clear: we need one another. We need to be involved in one another’s lives and doing this seeking together.

Jesus never intended us to try and live God’s will on earth as it is in heaven by ourselves. Such an effort is self-contradictory.  In the age to come we will not be by ourselves. There will be no hermits, monks, Lone Rangers or rugged individualists. So, when the age to come breaks into the present age right now, what you see is people “sharing together in the common life.”

This koinonia plays several key roles: (1) It embodies and demonstrates kingdom concepts like those in Isaiah 11:6-9 where natural enemies love one another. (2) It provides a fellowship of encouragement for those living as strangers in this world. (3) It creates a synergy where we are able take kingdom living higher and deeper, ever learning from one another. (4) It is the group that heralds the gospel of the kingdom to the world. Without koinonia there will be no kingdom in our lives.

For more reading and study see: One Another: Transformational Relationships in the Body of Christ by Thomas Jones and Steve Brown, available from www.dpibooks.org.

Focus Scriptures:

John 13:34-35

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Acts 2:42

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship [koinonia], to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Philip. 1:27-28

27Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by God.


For the latest reports from the Greater Nashville Church regarding flood recovery visit www.greaternashvillechurch.org and clicking on "breaking news."