If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:6-9 ESV Fellowship requires honesty. When there is pretense there can be no genuine fellowship. John begins his first letter with such a good picture of this truth about the nature of fellowship. People who can’t or won’t be honest with each other are people who will never experience the kind of nurturing fellowship God desires among His people. And just calling it fellowship doesn’t make it so. We mock God’s character and power if we claim to be intimate with Him but refuse to be honest with one another. When God’s around, the lights are on! Walking in the darkness means we may bump into each other, but we won’t have fellowship. When we see ourselves and one another clearly under God’s clarifying and purifying light, we are in position to appreciate each other, observe the cleansing work Jesus performs in one another’s lives, and experience the common ground that creates fellowship. John is clearly pointing to the heart of authenticity in these verses. Authenticity requires honesty—not putting on a mask; not coming to church and acting okay when I’m not. It is weeping with those who weep; rejoicing with those who rejoice; bearing one another’s burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ. God forbid our churches being a place of pretense and mask-wearing and acting like we are all fine and dandy when we are not!
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 12:48:57 +0000
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