Fellowship

 I heard an interesting sermon at my church about fellowship on Sunday - basically that it is better than friendship as it has something other than the two individuals at the centre of it, but also because it brings people who wouldn't probably otherwise be close together.

There were another stack of reasons as well, and indeed I have chosen examples of 'lesser' reasons for fellowship being a great thing (being part of God's universal church being número uno if I remember well.)

However, the thought stuck with me - fellowship at church has bought me into contact with an amazing variety of people I wouldn't otherwise interact with, and for a relational introvert such as myself this has given a wealth of experience, understanding and genuine friendship with people of wildly different opinions, tastes, hobbies etc. 

I guess communities were such places in the past as communications distances and population density made socializing almost exclusively with people of your specific type too hard, but all too often I believe we end up in opinion and worldview conforming/reaffirming chambers. 

Even the fellowship of the ring managed to have a debate about what should happen with the ring, right?

Think of the political slant of the blogs and newspapers you read, or the hobby/sports shows, and your friends you made with similar interests. How often do you hear what you agree with? Are you challenged in the way you perceive events and situations? Do you have to think about whether what you believe is accurate and coherent?

And if they do say differently to you, how often do you raise your voice to say 'what about X? Have you considered Y?'

Too often I do see people saying that online only to be howled down if they break from the consensus of their particular chamber - heck the CEO and founder of Mozilla got fired for simply donating for a cause he believed in  (traditional marriage) and having it leaked to a set of gay marriage (individual partner marriage equality?) advocates and then hitting the twittersphere.

There are lots more issues - pick a side in the wrong place on the Israel/Palestine conflict and you will see what I mean. Or who is the best sportsmen in whatever game, whether you liked a movie or not - whether it be war and peace or gum brands, people will draw sides and fight on it.

Back towards the point - if engaging with those who have the most important version of diversity (diversity of thought) is very hard in the world due to friendships being usually built on commonalities, and hard online due to echo chambers dominating their spheres of noise - where do you meet people who mostly aren't like you and engage them in a relational way?

This is why I appreciate the fellowship at church - by bringing us together under a mutual banner of worship I have made friends who are different to me in a way I don't think I otherwise would, encountered experiences and views I otherwise wouldn't have seen or actively avoided. I'm thankful for the privilege of knowing all the people I do because of the fellowship we have.

Again, I'm not picking up on all the points that fellowship is awesome - just some. I hope it made sense and made you think even if you disagreed.

Now, off to play the new Wolfenstein -    I'm not going to try to have fellowship with the Nazi's though - remember that fellowship is awesome, but it is the purpose and teachings/philosophies/aims it is based on that often determines whether it is beneficial or not :p