If someone leaves the church and you try to encourage them to come back, are you to fellowship with them?<\/p>\n\t
Fellowship describes the state of a relationship between two people. It is like the word “friendship.” Friends do things together, but just because you do something with another person, it doesn’t make you friends. “Fellowship” means you are in partnership with another person. The two of you have mutual customs, have common interests, and participate together in common projects. People who are in fellowship have a common goal that they jointly work on together to achieve that goal. Thus, a church is a fellowship of believers.<\/p>\n
If someone is told to leave, the group has withdrawn their fellowship from the person. This is done in churches when someone gets involved in sin and refuses to stop. “But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one<\/em>” (I Corinthians 5:11). To act as if you are in fellowship with a sinning brother is to show approval for his sins. You are to encourage the person to leave his sins and return, but you don’t pretend nothing is wrong.<\/p>\n If someone leaves the group, then that person is the one who has severed fellowship with the group. It may be that the person decided to move and be a part of a different congregation. In such a case, there are still ties, but the closeness will be gone. Yet, there will be joy when getting together with past friends and enjoying each other’s presence. But if the person leaves because they no longer believe the truth, there is no fellowship. “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds<\/em>” (II John 10-11). For such a person, you should admonish him for his false teachings, but you cannot treat him as if nothing is wrong.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: If someone leaves the church and you try to encourage them to come back, are you to fellowship with them? Answer: Fellowship describes the state of a relationship between two people. It is like the word “friendship.” Friends do things together, but just because you do something with another person, it doesn’t make you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[253,254],"class_list":["post-57513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-fellowship","tag-withdrawal"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61320,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-buildings-assembly-halls-and-fellowship-halls\/","url_meta":{"origin":57513,"position":0},"title":"Notes on Buildings, Assembly Halls, and Fellowship Halls","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Assemblies The church is commanded to come together for the purpose of worship and encouragement - I Corinthians 11:18, 20, 33; Hebrews 10:25 The purpose of coming together as a church is specifically separated from eating meals - I Corinthians 11:22, 34 Fellowship Fellowship is a state of being. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19369,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-have-meals-in-the-building-since-eating-together-is-an-expression-of-fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":57513,"position":1},"title":"Can we have meals in the building since eating together is an expression of fellowship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone has been arguing with me about fellowship and they say it is okay to have meals together in the building because eating together is an expression of fellowship. He says, \"If eating together and having fun together is not an expression of fellowship, then what is it?\" He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18230,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-mean-by-saying-fellowship-is-a-state-of-being\/","url_meta":{"origin":57513,"position":2},"title":"What do you mean by saying fellowship is “a state of being?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read\u00a0your sermon outline on fellowship\u00a0- it is very good. I have a question: you said that fellowship is a \"state of being\" and I do not understand what you mean. So can you explain\u00a0it to me, please? People talk about \"having fellowship\" when they eat together, is\u00a0it right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87727,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-should-take-priority-fellowship-or-evangelism\/","url_meta":{"origin":57513,"position":3},"title":"Which should take priority – fellowship or evangelism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Acts 2:46 states that they would meet every day. Today, with modern schedules, jobs, and family demands, daily gatherings seem unrealistic, but is this wrong thinking? To what extent is the daily fellowship model in Acts 2:46 an expectation for Christians, and how should believers today practically live out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1156,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-fellowship-be-denied\/","url_meta":{"origin":57513,"position":4},"title":"Can fellowship be denied?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where is the Bible passage that authorizes you to deny me fellowship as a member of the church when I acknowledge Christ and have been baptized? is there an ugly little secret that only those whose baptismal outlook is baptismal regenerationist are recognized? Apparently, my belief that my sins\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15700,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/biblical-fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":57513,"position":5},"title":"Biblical Fellowship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: I John 1:5-2:6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Fellowship has often been the center of controversy \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Part because the word has been misused by both denominationalists and Christians. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But it also has been area of trouble because we don\u2019t always know where to draw the line. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What is fellowship \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Definitions \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sun\u0113theia - A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57513\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}