The Brotherhood of Fellowship!

Recently I was speaking with another officer to ask him how things were going. He has been on the department for less than a year and is working midnight shift. We spoke of the troubles of adjusting to strange work hours, the impact of shift work on families, and how to personally deal with the stress of constantly witnessing the evil that humans perpetuate against each other. At the conclusion of our conversation, I reflected on how important it is to remain in fellowship with each other.

What is fellowship? The brotherhood of the blue line is well known. I can go anywhere in the country and find an instant friend in anyone who wears the badge – that is the Police Brotherhood. However, that brotherhood is not the type of fellowship to which I am referring.




The fellowship I am referring to begins first with Jesus Christ. Paul explains, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor 1:9) The word fellowship is from the Greek word koinonia that expresses communion or participation. “It expresses the blending of two wills into one common cause.”[1] As Christians, we have a common nature, a common purpose, with Jesus Christ – to build His Kingdom by making disciples of the all the nations. As Christians, we are corporately, as the Body of Christ, as the Church, knit together in His common nature and purposes. I can meet with any police officer and participate in the brotherhood of the badge, but I can only have true fellowship with another Christian.

When we are in fellowship with each other we demonstrate the love of Christ as He commanded us, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35) In our fellowship together, we can strengthen each other’s faith as Paul wrote the Romans, “…that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;…that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.” (Rom 1:11-12, italics added for emphasis) When we fellowship together we, “Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal 6:2) Finally, we can pray for one another.

Fellowship, koinonia, is the life of the Body of Christ. Through fellowship, we demonstrate our faith to others. We support and encourage each other, we pray for each other, we carry each other’s burdens, and finally we engage in the Kingdom work together – proclaiming the Gospel. My Christian brethren behind the badge, I know how difficult it is to remain in fellowship due to our strange schedules. All too often, morning church or small groups are held too early or the evening groups are too late. You struggle with balancing sleep, family time, work commitments, and court. However, you must find fellowship with each other. Seek out other believers in your squad. Meet with them on duty or off. Go car to car between calls, lift each other up, share scripture, and pray. Join a police officer fellowship or start one in your church, at the station, or in the local coffee shop. Whatever you do stay in fellowship! False teachers, naysayers, and Satan all want to pull you away from your faith. Remember the warning and exhortation closing of Peter’s second letter:

“Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

[1] The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament, 1998, p. 347