“…they
gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship;…” Galatians
2:9
God was anointing and blessing the work
of Paul and Barnabas, indicating their call and ministry. Based on this
perception, James, Peter and John, who were established apostles in the church,
extended the ‘right hand’ of fellowship to them. This was a token that Paul and
Barnabas were now accepted as God-ordained ministers and admitted into the
church and the society of the saints, and given full permission and consent to
carry out their work. Their labours of preaching and ministering God’s word, though
not limited only to the Gentile people, emphasized reaching those who had not
known the truth of the God of Israel to date. It has always been important that
ministers form and maintain strong and stable relationships. God’s work thrives
when there is unity and singleness of purpose among the brethren. Factions, jealousies
and seeking self-recognition, can only impair and hinder the progress of
preaching the gospel, reaching to new souls or establishing existing believers.
There is room for diversity in the manner and specific influence of the various
individuals whom God calls to be ministers. The scriptures describe under
general headings the various areas of ministry to which some are called. These
include: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. In many cases, aspects of each of these areas
of works overlap and form the overall individual ministry of a man who is
called by God. It is a good and encouraging advantage to have a body of
believers who will recognise, give place to, pray for and welcome into
fellowship a man with the calling of God on his life. The Bible also adds
cautions to believers such as to ‘know those who labour among’ us, indicating
that we cannot be superficial about our relationship with those we trust in
ministry. Clearly evaluating a man’s calling and determining the degree of his sincerity
in conducting the work to which he is called, becomes the responsibility of the
individual who would sit under the influence of such ministry. How wonderful it
is when true, loving and one-minded fellowship exists among the saints of God
and especially among those in spiritual authority! The body of Christ, the
church, is meant to be a place of refuge, comfort, encouragement and
fellowship. This closeness is ‘family-like’ and affords those who participate
the best of what the human family is able to offer, by way of love and mutual
support, in an environment which stresses and places importance on spiritual,
holy and righteous living. Spiritual fellowship therefore, is more than just a ‘club’
getting together, it implies genuine and holy intimacy, belonging to a family, learning
and growing in spiritual things, and working for the common purpose of bringing
glory to God and seeing His kingdom furthered.
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