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Fellowship – A Ship of Fellows
A Ship of Fellows; Not A Ship of Fools
The word “fellowship” can be divided into two parts.
1. FELLOW – The base word means “of the same kind”. A synonym is “partners”.
2. SHIP – As a suffix, “ship” means “state of being”.
Put together, fellowship is “the state of being of the same kind.”.
If we create a word picture (i.e., “body” is a word picture), we can learn many valuable applications. Fellowship is a “ship of fellows”. What does a ship of fellows look like?
1. SHIP – The type of ship we ought to be on is a warship not a Carnival Cruise ship. Everyone on that warship is going in the same direction. If there is one or more who do not have the same goal, they might actively try to sabotage the ship. Trouble makers only appear to be in the ship of fellows. The “state of being” on a ship is unity of direction and purpose. Their unity is demonstrated by their sameness in accomplishing their goal.
2. FELLOW – Not every warship partner has the same responsibility on the ship. Captains are different than the ones who work on the engine. On any and every ship, both are needed. Different gifts lead to different functions. Their unity is in using their gifts to serve one another. Their equality is demonstrated by their differences used to accomplish the goals that they share.
May we consider our local congregations as war ships, each one with a different job, all going the same direction. What happens when someone doesn’t do their job? They aren’t protecting one another nor helping each one to get “home” safely. We are a ship of fellows.
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