Let us consider how to fellowship. First, we should be careful never to distinguish between who is experienced and who is young when we fellowship. If we fellowship only with those who are experienced and not with young ones, we will suffer much. Never despise the younger brothers and sisters. Although we may think that they are unable to supply us, they help our spiritual blood cells to circulate. They can be compared to a spiritual motivator; when we fellowship with them, our spiritual blood cells begin to “run” on a racetrack, and we receive a supply. We should never be so proud that we think that we are experienced and that newly baptized ones cannot understand our needs, and we therefore do not need to fellowship with them. If we maintain this kind of attitude, we will be dead inwardly. When we fellowship with newly saved believers, who were recently baptized, we can receive a fresh supply and be refreshed. The marvelous thing is that we may think that we are helping others when we teach them, but actually we are being helped by them. Moreover, the help we receive from them is greater than the help they receive from us. Hence, the first point is that we should never make distinctions in fellowship.
Second, although we should not make distinctions when fellowshipping, there is still a matter of the degree of fellowship. We can have fellowship and receive a supply from anyone, as long as he is a believer. However, we need to realize that in order for us to comprehend others, to understand their fellowship, and to know exactly what they are talking about, we need to have a certain measure of life. Some people are deep in the Lord, and others are shallow. Although it is possible for there to be mutual understanding in fellowship, it is also possible to have a lack. It is also possible for one person to understand the story, but the other does not. Although one may be able to stimulate the circulation of spiritual blood, he may not be able to specifically respond to the fellowship, because he is not at that level.
Therefore, when you fellowship with me, we may not be able to get through in certain areas, because I cannot understand you, especially if I do not have your experiences, and my life has not reached your degree of life. You may be like a college professor speaking to a kindergartener about mathematics. We can understand one another when we speak of one plus one, but if the subject changes to algebra and geometry, I will not know how to respond. I may meet a brother who was baptized last week and say, “Praise the Lord, you are saved.” He can reply, “That is true, I am saved.” He can understand this. However, if I were to ask him a deeper question, such as how the Lord lives in him, he will be confused and puzzled.
This shows that fellowship can be limited. I have been saved for many years, but because this brother has been baptized for less than a month, he is not as advanced in the experience of life as I am. Although we can fellowship, our fellowship will be limited. Thus, anyone who seeks fellowship cannot ignore the matter of growth in life. These two matters, fellowship and growth, have a cause-and-effect relationship. Because there is life, there is fellowship, and because there is fellowship, life can grow. The more life grows, the more fellowship there is; the more fellowship there is, the more life can grow. This is a cycle of life. Thus, we cannot say whether fellowship comes before or after growth. These two are interconnected.
If all the brothers and sisters in the church, as members of one another, grow in this way, our fellowship will be like water boiling in a pot. Whenever we gather together, whoever comes into our midst will be “boiled” and “burned.” Consequently, everyone will experience the stripping off of at least a layer of skin. Since the meeting is “boiling,” the water in this meeting is always “boiling,” always fellowshipping, and always growing. When I fellowship with you, you understand; also, when you fellowship with me, I understand. This kind of spiritual activity causes us to grow in life. However, if you cannot understand when I fellowship with you, and I cannot understand when you fellowship with me, then we will be inactive, and eventually the Body will suffer loss. Therefore, we all need to be responsible to have more fellowship so that life can grow.
Third, never criticize or condemn others while fellowshipping. After fellowshipping, we may realize that we were unable to understand each other because our spiritual levels are different. At this point some may abandon fellowship. However, even though we are unable to get through in our fellowship, we still need to fellowship. But our fellowship should go only to a certain extent, not beyond; otherwise, some will feel condemned. At the same time, we should never condemn others and think that their experience is too shallow and that we can fellowship only low and shallow things with them, not high things. We should not inwardly criticize a certain brother or a certain sister who has no apparent progress; if we criticize, the fellowship in us will stop. Fellowship is a matter in the spirit, which is the most tender and sensitive part of our being. If we are rough, unrefined, unreasonable, and impolite, this will hurt the feeling of the spirit, and consequently the fellowship in our spirit will be damaged. Therefore, we should never condemn and criticize others in the fellowship.
For this reason, we should not only avoid distinctions when we fellowship, but we should also not condemn others and not criticize them. We need to keep ourselves soft and humble before the Lord at all times. We should fellowship with each other, and then we should continue in fellowship; however, if we have difficulty fellowshipping, we should fellowship only to the extent that is possible. In any case, we should always maintain the freshness and liveliness of the spirit.
Fourth, we should learn to accommodate others when we fellowship. This means that if our level of life is higher, we should not go too high in our fellowship. If we go too high, our fellowship will not benefit them but will rather push them to death; if this is the case, there will be a loss. We need to realize that the brothers and sisters around us are like the wives, children, and flocks led by Jacob (Gen. 33:13-14). When they hurried on in their journey, Jacob had no problem because he was strong and could walk fast, but his wives, children, and all the cattle were tender and frail and were not like Jacob. If Jacob hurried without caring for his wives, children, and the cattle, he would have pushed them to death. Jacob was unwilling to do this. Although he could walk very fast, he did not; rather, he accommodated his wives, children, and cattle.
Our spiritual understanding may be deeper and higher than the ones with whom we fellowship. If we always fellowship in a deep and high way, they will be unable to understand us. Thus, our fellowship will be killed. We should learn to accommodate them and learn to speak what they can understand. For example, our praising the Lord in a child-like manner during the bread-breaking meeting is to accommodate others. Our accommodation can help others advance. Fellowship is often lost in the Body because those who are deeper and higher do not want to accommodate those who are not as advanced. We should never despise any member in the Body.
Fifth, although we have fellowship with the members, we should never neglect our personal fellowship with the Lord. Never think that the fellowship of the Body is all that is needed. Some people make this mistake; they taste the fellowship of the Body and receive the blessing of the fellowship of the Body, but they neglect their personal fellowship with the Lord. After a period of time, they develop a problem, because their situation is unbalanced. On the one hand, we need to fellowship with the Lord; on the other hand, we need to fellowship with the saints and the churches.
Lastly, I hope that we can all see that every blessing we have received has been given to us by the Head through the members. Out from the Head we are supplied by the joints and knit together by the sinews. Moreover, we apprehend the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ with all the saints. All of these things are received in the fellowship of the Body.