What is Koinonia?

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.

The post What is Koinonia? appeared first on Resurrectio et Vita.