Paul expected every church to participate fully with him.
Partnership is one of the richest words in the New Testament. It is the significant Greek word koinonia. This word carries the truth of the fullest expression of love--a love that gives and releases everything to another. It is translated partnership, fellowship or participation. This multiple use of the word koinonia is seen in Philippians 1:3-5, where Paul writes to his favorite supporting church by saying, I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of yourpartnership(NIV), orfellowship(NKJV), orparticipation(NASB), in the gospel.
Paul expected every church to participate fully with him. Throughout his letters to the churches he is constantly affirming their personal and corporate involvement with him in his ministry. This is clearly seen as he encourages the Ephesian believers to pray saying, With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel ... that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak (Ephesians 6:18-20, NASB). To Paul, evangelism and church planting were a partnership. All the believers and the churches were to join together in expressing their love to God, to one another and to a lost world.
It is significant that Acts 2:42 uses this word koinonia: devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and tofellowship(NASB). We can truly say they devoted themselves to partnership with each other. Everything in the book of Acts that follows gives clear witness to this. When needs arose, they were willing to sell their homes, placing the money at the apostles' feet for ready distribution (Acts 2:44-45, 4:34-37). When their members were being persecuted, they united together to pray, and the Holy Spirit filled them all, and all of them together were bold in their witnessing (Acts 4:1-33). When there was a doctrinal issue to be resolved, the entire church in Jerusalem came together to pray and the Holy Spirit guided them. Then they sent letters of their decision to the rest of the churches. This was koinonia--partnership (Acts 15:1-37). Paul also did not hesitate to request, and gather, love offerings for the poor believers who were suffering in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:1-4).
Partnership is the essence of the Christian faith for each believer and each church. How should partnership work itself out in our lives and churches today? There are several areas of life for which we need each other:
Family life. My wife led a group of women to pray every week for their wayward children, and every child returned to the Lord.
Moral issues. Our communities and nation are in great need of combined, earnest prayer and practical efforts to restore moral strength.
Evangelism. Our churches could lead citywide crusades with other churches and denominations, corporate witnessing by the congregations and evangelizing together in schools, colleges, businesses and prisons.
Mission partnerships. We could witness together as individual churches, but corporately with other churches, to Native Americans, to the inner cities, in church planting efforts and through overseas mission projects.
Just recently, I participated in a citywide discipling partnership with churches of many different denominations. More than 1,000 people attended each evening. All of the participating churches were strengthened.
Partnership is God's way of touching a broken world!
The author of Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby is special assistant to the president, for Prayer and Spiritual Awakening, North American Mission Board.