Koinonia! What kinds of ideas come to mind when you hear that word? Potluck? Fellowship? However, you envision that famous Greek word, certainly you don’t envision something bad. Sometimes because of our vast familiarity with a word or idea its meaning or its usage in the Bible is not fully explored.
The Apostle Paul refers to fellowship or koinonia, as it is usually translated, as more than eating together or having a really good time. In fact, when Paul uses the word in his letters he is referring to participation and sharing in a mission. Of course, there are implications to eating and drinking together during fellowship or the Eucharist, but for Paul, to be in koinonia means being caught up in the work of the Gospel. It’s not so much the fellowship around food, but koinonia is more like the fellowship of the ring from the Shire to Mount Doom. It means participating in the mission of God to put this world to right. This is why the Paul urged us to join in his mission.
This is life in the Spirit, this is the Gospel of the Son, this is the agenda of the Father for his world: to bring together men and women, boys and girls into his kingdom work. To ensure that each one of us has a role to play in this sacred act called life.
“koinonia is more like the fellowship of the ring from the Shire to Mount Doom.” If your are the ancient of age, like me, one cannot particularly relate to the fellowship of the ring. How about appraching this Koinionia thing as:1Corinthians 12:12 “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.”(nkjv) Clarkes commentary suggests the following: “For as the body is one – Though the human body have many members, and though it be composed of a great variety of parts, yet it is but one entire system; every part and member being necessary to the integrity or completeness of the whole.” The body “functioning” is in fact, as I see the definition of “Koinonia”