#6 Reject Fellowship Of Christians - 1 John

We are now at the 6th characteristic than can be used to distinguish a Christan from a non-Christian..

#6 - "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if the had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." 1 John 2:19

Those who are Christians enjoy the company and fellowship of other Christians. All Christians immediately have something in common, the Bible and Jesus Christ. Someone who does not enjoy the fellowship of Christians is probably not a Christian.

Although this seems straight forward, I do have a word of caution. Just because someone attends church, that does not make them a Christian. Just because a church calls itself Christian, that does not make that church a Christian church. Walking away from people or a church that is not truly Christian is not what John is talking about.

I've attended church services in mainline churches, and felt totally out of place. For example, this past summer I visited a New England church in which communion is all about radical hospitality and everyone is invited to partake of communion. This is not a Christian church. It is a church I'd leave and never return to. In doing so I would not be doing what John describes in 1 John 2:19, because in this case I am not leaving Christian fellowship.

John is also not referring to someone who leaves one Christian church to attend a different Christian church. There is no one church that has a lock on Biblical truth. Different churches have different missions, different styles of worship, offer different classes, etc. We may find our gifts to be a better fit with a different church, or with a different group of Christians, and that is okay.

The person John is talking about here is the person who rejects fellowship with Christians.

My wife became a Christian several years before I did. At times she would be working around the house and would be singing spiritual songs and hymns. I love her singing, she has a wonderful voice. But those songs grated on my nerves. I did not like them and I did not want to be around her when she was singing them. That's what John is talking about.

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