Why is fellowship so important?

I've just returned from a recent trip down to visit our friends in LA (near Biola University). My wife and I held our good friend's newborn baby, we had a late night fellowship and snacks at Guppies, and we connected with a lot of college friends. I am reminded as I write this new blog post why church AND fellowship is so important. This will be a little different than my previous posts and I think from now on, I will start integrating more topics on church, faith, and spirituality in addition to daily bible devotional. Also, I probably will shift into sharing more personal stories of my own life. So I hope you readers don't mind learning more about me and my life with Jesus Christ! So let's dig in.

Before I can answer why fellowship is so important, I first have to answer what is fellowship? Usually, when I hear people talk about "youth fellowship" or "adult fellowship", I usually hear about the activities: special event, games, bible study, prayer, etc... I hear this question all the time, "What are we "doing" tonight?". But really, fellowship is not simply an activity, it is not what we "do". Fellowship is in fact a relationship. Like what I did there? The emphasis is not in the doing but in the being.

(Our Biola classmates together at Guppies Tea house in Rowland Heights)

So the reason why fellowship is so important is actually quite simple. Because the Bible shares many passages about the importance of fellowship and church unity! Act 2:42-47 is just one of many verses that talks about early church fellowship that says,

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

Being in fellowship draws people together closer to God. So there are two important relationships happening here: One is a vertical relationship between us and God. Second is a horizontal relationship between you, me, and others. We are the body of Christ! So the next time, you are thinking about if I should go to fellowship at church or why fellowship is important. Go ahead read the Bible, do a Google search on fellowship, or think about the purpose of church. I think you and I can both find that we are called to serve God in community and relationship with one another.