The Dangers of Empty Fellowship

If you were to ask my family what I was like as a child, no doubt the answer would be shocking. Can you believe that I was very shy? I didn't talk much around people. I'm not sure if it was because I was afraid to talk or just had so little to say.  I can tell you that is not the case now. 
As the only black nursing student in my college in Texas, I had to come out of my shell. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to share with prestigious leaders both corporately and in the religious arenas. Although there have been many conversations, I have not entered into them just for the sake of talking. Sometimes we talk just to hear our own voice, but other times we speak because we are expected to do so. 

When we enter into fellowship with God, we must strive to avoid empty fellowship.  What do I mean by that? Simply, going through the motions.  With the pressures of life pulling at us from every direction, it doesn't take much for us to operate on autopilot.  We go to church, but we don't truly attend the service. To attend is to be present. It is to show up. We sing Zion songs with beautiful melodies and perfect pitch, but the strings of our heart are absent from the harmony. I am not saying that any of this is intentional. It just may be that we have not noticed when are not contributing to the relationship we have with God.  

Whether or not we realize our misstep, it is dangerous to fall into business as usual. Allow me to share 3 prominent dangers.  

1) Making noise while God is talking.  It is most annoying when God is speaking but there's noise drowning out the word that our spirit so desperately needs. When we are absent from the melody, there is noise instead of music.  When we walk absently, not only do we reduce God's volume in our lives, but we also miss what he is saying to us.  We miss his instruction. We miss his protection by way of warning. We miss his declaration of love for us. Our empty fellowship with him overwhelms our senses with clanging cymbals. 

2) One-sided relationship. Though it can never be equal because He is more and can contribute infinitely, we must give something to the relationship.   When we are not intentional about what we give God, we become like one who takes the same path every day.  Have you ever driven a familiar path and suddenly looked up but could not remember what you passed on the journey? You were aware of where you needed to go, but not focused on it. You paid little to no attention of the speed at which you were traveling or even to the traffic around you.  Somehow you made it safely. God did it. He was engaged with you and for you, but you were not there. He was giving and you took him for granted. 

3) Dissolution of the marriage.  When our relationship is one of ritual and not active love for God, we are dissolving our marriage.  Pharisees were more concerned with the rituals of the law, but not the love of the spirit. Without a change in their minds, they cancelled the wedding.  They refused the bridegroom. When we are not actively attentive to our relationship with God, we create distance from him. We stray away.  When this happens naturally, marriages can crumble.  Spiritually, the same danger is present.  This is not because God is going back on his promise to you. He does not stray. 

I remind myself today and gently caution you to be intentional in your relationship with the Creator. Avoid empty fellowship.  Let God know that you love and appreciate him by being present with him. 

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. Mark 12:30

Reaching the lost at any cost, 

Pastor Dr. Odie Kennedy

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