Another Kind of Fellowship

Tired and sweaty, but excited…

It was a 15 minutes drive home with the reverend, I was still amazed at how physically fit he was

He had opted to join the young men in a football game, for fun it seemed, it was refreshing, but I came to discover another kind of fellowship.

What started as a random banter in the young men’s group seemed to become a reality, someone had asked, “who is up for a football game tomorrow?” And the response was encouraging.. it seemed to be some break a whole lot of people had longed for.

A break, which came to become another kind of fellowship…

The guys stretched and warmed up, there was sheer excitement in the air, there was banters, there were jokes, we didn’t know this dimension of ourselves, but it was already promising

Coming from a background where I had interacted extensively with the secular world around sporting activities, I was particularly interested in how this would unfold, and it was new.

The usual pushing, pulling, and falling were there, many tripped, we argued, and the screams and the bragging were on another level.

But.. so was the love, But even more, was the love…

I saw men tease each other with scripture, rather than the usually obtainable vain conversations that occur in sports arenas

Every interpretation was clean, every expression was pure, in the midst of the running around, several split seconds had me lost in the beauty of what had been worked into the men present

There was no leader, no referee, but there was a conscience, a conscience alive enough to determine when a ball crossed a touchline, when a tackle was too strong, and even when a goal was to count or not, we had VAR inbuilt and manifesting in an active spirit within.

Severally we found everyone rolling on the ground, over each other in pure joy and laughter, when one was humiliated by one classy show of skill or the other, we found that there was no sadness in loss, disappointments were drowned by the excitement.

It was another kind of fellowship…

I realize that beyond the regular atmosphere of worship and teaching, there’s a dimension of fellowship that comes when people meet in extracurricular activities such as sports as well as other activities related but different from the regular that occur in church Circles…

There’s a deeper bond that’s created, the emotions, the expressions, and the unity is palpable, as though it was a physical manifestation of all the worship and teaching that had gone ahead

We interacted in new dimensions, I saw a lawyer roll on the ground, I saw an engineer flat on his tummy, and a chemist collide with a theologian…

What amazing scenes…

I was reminded of Psalm 113, Which said:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore.

I looked forward to more amazing scenes,

There is more in God, I find that God is very interested in the very trivial and diverse activities we are involved in,

And Just as Ephesians 4 said, there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all

So also…
There’s only one life for a believer, where God permeates through every bit and every expression, there’s never a separate life different from the normal Christian life.

While we look forward to the next opportunity for another kind of fellowship…

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

Shallom