One of the things I miss during the medical furlough is the cooler evening hours. Actually it isn’t the cooler weather that’s missed, but what happens in Barrouallie when the sun starts to set.
Around 6:00 every night, people will start either putting chairs out in front of their house, or going to one of the public areas like a park. By 6:30 the whole community is filled with people sitting around talking bout their day.
There isn’t a lot of serious conversation going on in the evening. Pretty much just small talk about the weather, current events, and whats going on in your life. Yet it develops strong relationships as you spend day after day just spending time together.
This gathering every evening makes the me think about fellowship.
Fellowship for a Believer should mean spending extended periods of time during the week with other Christians. The busyness of life makes this incredibly difficult, so we enjoy fellowship with one another during church services.
This is better than nothing……
But fellowship should be something we do more than twice a week.
One thing I love about the Vincentian culture is it makes time with friends a priority. There will always be more tasks to accomplish, but they will set those aside, in order to spend time with friends. Because the Vincentians know that having strong relationships is more important.
The thing about fellowship is it has to be a conscious choice
- You choose to take the initiative in developing relationships
- You choose to set aside time for that relationship to grow
- You choose to enjoy the quiet moments of “small talk”
- You choose to share more and more or yourself over time
For many of us we only have time for a Sunday or Wednesday fellowship because so much is going on. But others choose that fellowship because its easier, or safer.
As someone who has experienced both let me tell you….
Twice a week fellowship is a poor replacement for daily fellowship.
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