The "Fellowship Meal" - Lee Snow

     One look at me and you know what my second favorite thing to do on the first Sunday of each month is. Aside from the great privilege that I have been given to preach the Gospel to a lost world which happens every day but most specifically on the Lord's Day, one of my favorite things to do is sit down with friends and family and enjoy the delectables offered by what I am convinced is a congregation made up of some of the best cooks in the body of Christ. The laughing, the funny stories and jokes, even inevitable question, "Lee, did you try my ____" which is universally understood to be answered with a "Yes" followed by a quick "I loved it" (provided that answer is truthful). However, recently I have been asked the question of whether or not such gatherings are permissible with reference to their taking place in the buildings owned by the church or with any support (financial or otherwise) from the local congregation. Let's lay aside all preconceived ideas and simply see what the Scriptures have to say about the authority for Christians to gather together and fellowship while eating, specifically with regard to the place and funds with which this is carried out. 

     A very simple line of reasoning from the Bible can give us a very clear look as to the abundant authority for this to happen in the church building or with funds taken from the "church treasury". 

     Let's make that journey through the NT together...

"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42, NKJV)

     First, one ought to look to what the Christians are said to have done within the confines of the 1st Century and the writing of the New Testament. Acts 2:42, a passage often quoted with regard to the kinship seen in the early church of Christ, speaks of their continuing in something called "fellowship". This word, according to Strong's, means something to the effect of communication, communion or distribution. It is also used in 1 Corinthians 10:16 to speak of the Lord's Supper. It is often understood, yet rarely mentioned, that our partaking of the Supper on the first day of the week is, in a spiritual sense, eating with Christ (cf. Matthew 26:29). So, fellowship can be seen in the eating of the Lord's Supper. 

     Notice that word, "eating". If Acts 2:42 is a command by example, and I believe that it is, then we are commanded to fellowship with one another. If fellowship can be done by eating, and it can, then the fellowship meal conducted at the building of the local congregation is something which members of the Lord's church know very well, an expedient. That is to say, it is something which is lawfully done in order to carry out a command which was not specifically identified to be done in one way or another. An example of this would be the worship of the saints at a specified location, often owned by the church in that area, known as a church building. Since we are commanded to worship in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24) and that worship is to be a gathering of Christians for edification (Hebrews 10:2-26) then the building is the expedient to worship. The same can be said with regard to the fellowship meal. Since fellowship is commanded (Ephesians 3:9) and there is Biblical example of the early Christians doing so through a common meal (Acts 2:42, 46) then it is just as expedient to do so within the building in order to carry out that command as it is the one to worship. 

     This question may have never been asked of you but if it ever is, the answer is written clearly in your Bible.