Startled by the alarm clock on a cool Sunday morning, many of us awake to the routine of service at our local church. An elder has requested that we arrive early to set up chairs or perhaps make coffee for old friends. Some of us are the recipients of this labor as we enter the doors of an assembly hoping to see a smile and find warmth from our pastor's gentle encouragement. When all is said and done, a few go out for lunch and the majority return to their privacy. By its very nature, we call this weekly encounter a time of "fellowship."

From Oxford to Harvard and every prestigious university in between, employed scholars of any consequence are usually granted the title of "Fellow." Depending on the academic structure, this can mean a variety of different things, but at its core, any university Fellow is a man or woman who receives unlimited access to the inner libraries and research offices. Even college students have been known to receive word from the government that they are being granted a "fellowship" of financial support based on the condition of their academic status.

Depending on our experiences, we naturally stand to be a little bit confused about the meaning of fellowship. Is it a gathering of people? Is it a gift? Is it a prestigious right?

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;" Philippians 1:3-5

Paul speaks in remembrance of Philippian "fellowship" by bringing in the Greek word koinonia. Simply put, this is a remembrance of "joint participation" in a common cause.

"Two [are] better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him [that is] alone when he falleth; for [he hath] not another to help him up." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

In 1987, our nation rallied behind the rescue workers of Midland, Texas as they worked to lift "Baby Jessica" out of the well that she had fallen into. Such a little child could not alone be held accountable for falling, but she required the assistance of others to get back up. Likewise, Biblical fellowship stands on the truth of reconciliation for the common good.

At times, we may manufacture the environment for fellowship with Sunday morning coffee or an invitation to dinner, but the setting is not the fellowship. If a man is broken, fellowship will put him back together. If a woman has fallen, fellowship will seek to restore her. For all who are down, fellowship will find a way to pick them back up. Fellowship is edification.

"That there should be no schism in the body; but [that] the members should have the same care for one another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it." I Corinthians 12:25-26

Sound Biblical fellowship recognizes this necessity of partnership. For when one partner falls and we do not help him get back up, what will happen when we fall? Likewise, if we do not rejoice when our partner is honored, who will rejoice when we are honored?

Our heaven-bound road was not intended to be lonely. The path may in fact be narrow, but this ought to bring us closer together, not rip us apart. And the closer you get to your partners and "fellows" in ministry, you'll want to make every effort to help them get up when they lose their footing.