I have been staying in hotel rooms for twenty-four years and I’ve never been bored. How could I ever be bored when I’m with God every moment? He’s in my room with me. For this reason, I am protective of my time in hotel rooms. Periodically I’ll say, “I don’t want to spend time with my travel team because I want to be alone with the Holy Spirit.” I love to hear Him speak. Don’t get me wrong, I like being around people; in fact, I like it a lot! In no way am I a hermit or recluse. I absolutely love people, but I really value my time (fellowship) with the Holy Spirit.

Day 2

Communion Means Partnership

The next English word that can be used to describe koinonia is partnership. We see an example of partnership in the Gospel of Luke: “And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink” (Luke 5:6-7). The Greek word for partners is metochos (a synonym of koinonia) and is defined as “‘partner, companion, fellow worker.”1 These men were business partners. From this interaction, we understand that good partnership requires both communication and action. The men had to signal to their partners, and then the partners had to come and help.

Now let’s look at what is probably one of the most awe-inspiring scriptures in the whole New Testament. Paul writes, “We are labourers together with God” (1 Corinthians 3:9 KJV). Isn’t that amazing? I like the way the Weymouth translation puts it: “[We are] fellow workers for and with God.” We have been given the opportunity to work for and with the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Another way to put this is we get to work in partnership with God. What an amazing invitation!

In Acts 15 we see an element of this partnership in action. The apostles were constructing a letter to be sent to all the Gentile believers. In it, they said, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us” (Acts 15:28). We can see the partnership at work. The leaders distinctly expressed both the Holy Spirit’s views and their own regarding a particular situation. Both parties participated in the decision. They were partners in the kingdom work.

This same idea of partnership is also seen in the Old Testament. Remember when God came to Abraham at the terebinth trees to discuss His plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 18). God clearly sees Abraham as His partner. God and Abraham walk over to a cliff and God says, “I’m really considering blowing up these two cities. What do you think, Abraham?” (author’s paraphrase). Abraham is quite concerned because his nephew lives in one of these two cities. After considerable deliberations he eventually convinces God not to destroy the cities if ten righteous people can be found within them.