Acts 2 gives us one of the great verses telling us how the early church worked.
‘And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers’ (Acts 2.42 ESV). Leaving aside one, three and four, I want to look at fellowship in the context of youth ministry. The ESV Bible footnote gives us two paraphrases, namely ‘participation’ and ‘sharing’.
Counter culture of caring
As we begin a new year of youth ministry, I’m sure many have planned how the ‘apostles’ teaching’ will be communicated, but should we also give consideration to how we develop fellowship in the lives of our youth groups. Is it sufficient to gather our group, pass on the teaching and send them home? Should there be genuine ‘fellowship’ at the heart of groups. Our young people are living in a competitive world where they are actively encouraged to strive for the best – the top spot. You only have to look at a bunch of teenagers playing sport to see the competitive edge coming out. But does that competitive spirit sometimes drift into the lives of our groups? The result is not ‘sharing’, but a rather unsavoury atmosphere of one-upman-ship. In the world of academic performance it is vital that we teach a counter culture of caring for one another and supporting the weak – I don’t think this will come naturally to many of our people.
