Koinonia in the Kingdom
Memory verse: “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7)
Kingdom people are interrelated with other members and believers in the Kingdom worldwide.
A Personal Story from Henry Blackaby
“After serving 22 years as a pastor, I became the director of missions for an association of 11 churches and mission churches in the greater Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada. Guiding a church to walk with Christ as the Head of His body is one matter. Guiding an association of 11 congregations to walk together with God with one heart and one mind is quite different. I came to this new assignment with the conviction that “the God we serve is able ... and he will” (Dan. 3:17). Biblical principles of God’s working with His people do not change. Helping a group of churches learn to walk with God in intimate koinonia with Him and with one another took time, but God is the One who does that kind of miraculous work. I was only a vessel through whom He chose to work. Though we were a small band of congregations, God manifested His presence in the lives of the churches and the association. God led our churches to walk by faith as we witnessed to the people attending the World’s Fair. God worked through our association to begin ministry to East Indians. In four years, the number of churches and missions in our association doubled. Student work grew from one part-time student director to five full-time directors. Almost one hundred people expressed a sense of call into ministry or mission work. Once strained relationships with other church groups were healed and flourished into dynamic, cooperative efforts of fellowship and outreach. God did so much more than we could ever ask or think, according to the Holy Spirit’s enabling power at work in His churches (see Eph. 3:20-21)”.
When koinonia exists among churches, it is evident in their relationships. We cooperated in our commission to reach our world for Christ. We were able to do things together that no one church alone could have done effectively. We shared anything we had if it would meet the need of a sister church. We spent time together and loved one another.
Can that kind of koinonia exist among churches not only on an associational level but also on a state, provincial, national, or international level? Yes! Can Godlike koinonia exist among churches of different denominations as they cooperate to achieve greater Kingdom purposes? Yes! However, humans left to their own ways cannot achieve those kinds of relationships. Only God through His Holy Spirit can create and sustain koinonia among His people. He wants to be the King, Ruler, and Sovereign over all His kingdom. When He is allowed to rule, barriers erected by humans inevitably fall.
If your church has a koinonia problem with other Christian churches or groups, that indicates a deeper koinonia problem with the Lord. I am not suggesting that doctrinal differences ought to be compromised, but we can act like brothers and sisters who love one another. Koinonia takes on new dimensions, new possibilities, and new richness as churches relate in the wider circles of the Kingdom. This is the same way love works.
Final Thought
A believer cannot experience God in all the dimensions God intends for him or her apart from the body of Christ—a local church. As the body goes on mission together to the ends of the earth, Christians begin to experience the fuller dimensions of life in God’s kingdom. As you experience koinonia with other groups of God’s people, you experience greater dimensions of God’s presence at work in your world. God has created channels through which you and your church can touch the world for Him. Allow Him to break down any barriers that may prevent you from experiencing God through koinonia with others. Go to Him and watch for His initiative. He can show you how, with whom, and when He wants to use you.