Home > Work > True Community: The Biblical Practice of Koinonia
1 " It is not the fact that we are united in common goals or purposes that makes us a community. Rather, it is the fact that we share a common life in Christ. "
― Jerry Bridges , True Community: The Biblical Practice of Koinonia
2 " A willingness to share our possessions with one another is a very important aspect of true biblical community. "
3 " Practice of true community involves responsibilities and actions that do not come naturally to us. "
4 " Biblical community is first of all the sharing of a common life in Christ. "
5 " This is fellowship: sharing with one another what God is teaching through the Scriptures, and this is an important part of true community. "
6 " Biblical community, then, incorporates this idea of an active partnership in the promotion of the gospel and the building up of believers. "
7 " Without this relationship with God, there can be no spiritual relationship with one another. "
8 " It is relatively easy to serve those above us — even the world expects this — but Jesus served downward. "
9 " If we are to master the scriptural principles of true biblical community, we must master this one: True greatness in the kingdom of heaven involves serving one another. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26). "
10 " one of the chief characteristics of a servant is that he serves downward — that is, to those who by the world’s standards are beneath him in position or station in life. "
11 " Fellowship is much, much more than food and fun and even more than reading and studying the Scriptures with another believer. Fellowship at times may involve blood, sweat, and tears as we stand side by side with our persecuted brothers and sisters. "
12 " The reason most of us do not see opportunities to serve is that we are continually thinking about ourselves instead of others. "
13 " For an action to be truly obedient to God, it must be done from a motivation of genuine love and gratitude to Him. "
14 " Whether fellowship is perceived as participation or partnership, in either case it implies a responsibility to fulfill our function in the body. We usually don’t think of fellowship in terms of fulfilling a responsibility, but that is because we have lost sight of the biblical meaning of fellowship. Fellowship is not just a social privilege to enjoy; it is more basically a responsibility to assume. "
15 " But this is what servant-hood within the fellowship of believers is all about: being alert to the little things that need to be done and then doing them. "
16 " If Christ grieved over unrepentant Jerusalem, does He not grieve over unrepentant America as well? If we would fully enter into the fellowship of His sufferings, we must begin to see sin from His point of view. "
17 " Fellowship is not just a social privilege to enjoy; it is more basically a responsibility to assume. "
18 " does no good to nail an unattached branch to the vine; there is no life-giving connection. But those branches that are an integral part of the vine share in the life of the vine. "
19 " All believers share a common life in Christ, whether or not we recognize it. We are in fellowship with literally thousands of believers from every nation of the world. Although we have never met most of them, we are in fellowship with them. We disagree with many of them over various issues of faith and practice, yet we are still members of the same body. Even though we struggle to like some of them, that does not alter the fact that we share together a common life in Christ. Neither our attitudes nor our actions affect this objective sense of koinonia. We are in community with all other believers, whether or not we like it or even recognize the fact. "
20 " In fact, there is no such thing as grudging obedience. For an action to be truly obedient to God, it must be done from a motivation of genuine love and gratitude to Him. "