This past week we discussed some of the
different words for church found in the Greek New Testament. Basilica
is the word used for church when referring to the building. Ekklesia, which was the
name of the democratic popular assembly in Athens during the Greek Golden Age,
and one of the words used in the Greek New Testament to signify the assembly
of Christians who gathered together. The
Greek word used most frequently was koinonia. Some of the meanings
assigned to this word are: “fellowship, association, community, communion, joint
participation, intercourse . . . a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a
contribution, as exhibiting an embodiment and proof of fellowship.”[1] It was used 19 times in the New Testament and
was translated as contribution twice,
fellowship twelve times, participation twice, sharing three
times.[2]
The first
time koinoia is used in the New Testament, the translators translated it as
“fellowship”. It appears in the second
chapter of Acts speaking of the first Christian converts, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Awe came upon
everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and
distribute the proceeds to all, as any had
need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the
temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the
people. . . “[3]
One would think that the earliest Christian community established by the
apostles would be closer to what Jesus had in mind. This would have been radical in Jesus’ times
and none the less radical in our own present day capitalistic society. Similar thoughts obviously crossed Charles
Fillmore’s mind as well. It has been
interesting exploring Unity Institute’s Archives. In many ways Mr. Fillmore was as radical in his thinking as Jesus was. In a written talk that Mr. Fillmore gave in February 20, 1927 called
“Cooperation in Service”, Mr. Fillmore said, “Jesus Christ opened up a great
new consciousness to the race. He taught
the universal mind from which we have disconnected ourselves some because we
were thinking materially. We were
thinking about the affairs of this world too much; we were being deceived by
riches; we were deceived by this selfish man.
And now that we have
the light of the Spirit, that we shall break down this carnal mind and come
into a new world, a world in which is light, the light of life.”[4] He went on to tell the story found in Acts
4:32-36 about the direct followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Charles asked,
“How did the light affect them? It did
away with their selfishness. Instead of
being deceived by possessions and thinking them paramount in this world, they
were willing to part with them. They
brought all their possessions to and laid them at the feet of the
disciples. They had all things in
common. Everybody had everything they
needed and there was no lack anywhere.”[5] He continued saying, “Now we Unity people are
aiming again toward starting such a community.
We see that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the universal ownership of
everything. And when that idea is carried out in a practical way, we shall have
a community interest and there will be no lack of any kind . . . Everybody will
be provided with everything necessary.
And there won’t be any rich people but the people will all be
prosperous. Now I say these ideals can
be carried out but we must be willing to serve, we must be willing to give
everything that we possess to the one great Good. Nobody can have anything and call it strictly
his own. Even the clothes that you wear
on your back, Jesus taught that you should give to the man that needed them. Now if you can go this far, we can give up
everything to the one good universal cause, we shall have this real Christian
Community”[6]. He then said that “we shall be Christians,
not looking forward to the heaven in the future, but that we shall be Christians
in service and establish right here in the earth, everything that has been
dreamed of; everything that has been idealized.
That’s practical Christianity.
Let’s bring it right down to the now.”[7]
It appears that “this real Christian
Community” Mr. Fillmore was visualizing is more than just a little radical, but a radicalism informed by one of the earliest Christian communities. It's certainly worth giving some serious thought.
[1]
Thayer and Smith, “Greek Lexicon entry for Koinoia”, The NAS New Testament
Greek Lexicon, 1999. http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/koinonia.html
[2]
Thayer and Smith, "Greek
Lexicon entry for Koinonia", accessed November 10, 2013http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/koinonia.html
[3]
Acts 2: 43-47 ( NRSV)
[4]
Fillmore, Charles. Co-operation in
Service. Unpublished Talk. 20 February 1927. Charles S. Fillmore Papers (605), Unity
Library & Archives, Unity Village, Mo.
[5]
Ibid.
[6]
Ibid.
[7]
Ibid.
No comments:
Post a Comment