Related to the next post I will be making on ecumenism, I have been thinking about the different types of fellowship Christians might have with their fellow men. Here are a few thoughts, and I would appreciate your input on the correctness (or not) of this.
Human fellowship (our commonness as fellow creatures in God's creation)
Social fellowship (those with whom we interact on a regular basis)
Political fellowship (those with whom we share in a political cause)
Familial fellowship (those with whom we share a family bond; perhaps a natural family, a spiritual family, etc.)
Ecclesial fellowship (those with whom we share a common church bond)
We should be careful to not go to seed on this, recognizing that a Christian is one person in whom all these must coincide and not result in confusion. But, for example, if there is such as thing as a spiritual familial relationship, wouldn't that suggest that we could have some fellowship with a person who is a part of this same family even though he or she might differ on church matters, making it unlikely or impossible for us to have ecclesial fellowship?
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