“Hang out” is a phrase I hear my kids say when they are making plans with their friends. I like the term a lot. When I was younger we would call our friends and ask, “Do you want to go do something?” Hanging out places the emphasis on being together more than on what is going to be done. It seems to say, “I don’t care what we do, I just want to spend time with you.” Now, saying it that way would make my kids use another word: “creepy.” Nevertheless, “hanging out” implies the important thing is being together.
People are made to be with one another; in fact, the Bible uses that phrase a lot. The traditional Christian word is “fellowship.” It basically means spending time together. Spending time together, hanging out, fellowship, can feel like a waste of time because we are so wired for doing, but there is no way to get to know one another without being with each other. One of the most iconic activities for becoming known is sharing a meal. When I was a kid, the basement of our church was known as The Fellowship Hall. It was the place where we would have church pitch-ins. Sitting around tables and eating food that various families had contributed was, in fact, the main purpose of this room. Eat a meal together. Get to know each other. Become friends.
Choosing friends is an important life choice. Proverbs 12:6 says, “The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.” The intention of our Fellowship Hall was to let “godly” people spend time with each other so that another verse in Proverbs (27:17) would kick in, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” We need each other, as long as we are moving together with our hearts turned toward God. Proverbs 18:24 says “There are friends who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.” Fellowship is really about friendship. Jesus says in John 15:13, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus goes on to say in that same passage (v 15), “I have called you friends.” Of course, he is the ultimate example of laying down his life. He then adds (v 17), “This is my command: Love each other.” The purpose of having Christ-followers intentionally hang out with each other is so that their love for each other will grow. Fellowship grows to friendship and is born out of our desire to love as he commands.
The mission statement for The Gathering is “to change life as we know it through the love, loyalty and friendship of Jesus.” He has called us friends. He wants to hang out with us. He wants us to hang out with each other in his name. He has promised in Matthew 18:20 that, “. . . where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” When we all hang out together, Jesus starts to change the world through us, and of course, we get changed in the process as well. So we eat meals together at the end of our gatherings. We sit around tables and laugh and tell our stories and share our faith. This holy alchemy of food and fellowship and Jesus begins to build a community that will reach a community and transform the whole concoction into the Kingdom of God.
So come “hang out” with us next Sunday evening. Who knows where it will lead.
And that is all I have to say about that . . . for now.
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