Koinonia.  Phonetically, it sounds like coin-on-ee-a.  It’s derived from the Greek language and finds its meaning within the shared roots of participation, partnership, fellowship, community, and association.   

When I was ruminating on what to call this blog, I kept coming back to the idea that I wanted it to be a place where we reside together.  Where there is no need for an invite list because it isn’t exclusive.  A place where you can bring brokenness, or questions, doubts, or your unique experiences and opinions, because our differences enhance us (at least they can if we let them).  I want it to be a place where if you’re alive, you’re welcome – just like Zoar (if you don’t know Zoar, read The Refuge, Book One of the Refuge Trilogy). 

In facilitation there’s a common phrase used to highlight the power of different people and their unique experiences.  They call it ‘using the power of the group’.  This idea invites the facilitator (this is the person leading the conversation) to step back, be silent, and ask the group to offer their perspectives to teach the collective because together, the group will always be smarter, more experienced, more well read, and more educated than the facilitator alone.  This amalgamation of people and experience working toward mutual edification – that’s an active expression of koinonia. 

But koinonia is a lot more than that too, and I think God had a much fuller intent behind using koinonia to name this blog than I could, or can, understand from my very limited perspective.  Koinonia is more than mutual edification.  It’s more than association.  And it’s more than being on the invite list.  

There’s something that continually happens in the New Testament that preempts miracles, and I think it’s essential to the holistic understanding of the word koinonia.  Right before Jesus or one of the disciples performs a miracle, there is an action required of the recipient – there’s a critical partnership to the miracle. 

“Pick up your mat and walk.” (John 5:8) – This He said to the lame.

“Fill the jars with water.” (John 2:7) – This He said at the wedding, before turning water to wine.

“Bring me the bread and the fish.” (Matthew 14:18) – This He said before feeding 5000 people with 2 fish and some bread.  

“Young man, I tell you, GET UP.” (Luke 7:14) – This He said before raising a child from the dead.  

There is a clear and continual command to participate, to act, to partner in it.  This is not a ‘come and be served’ kind of community.  Koinonia is a come and be served, and serve, kind of community.  A partnership.  A participation of all the parties. 

It seems we tend to fall on one side of this line and hang out there.  We tend to be consumers, or we tend to be servers.  I wonder how the idea of koinonia can challenge us to evolve in this space. 

When I was young, we went on mission trips to Jamaica to work with orphanages.  Before we left, I remember someone telling me to make sure we graciously accepted acts of service from those we were going to serve.  If they wanted to feed us, welcome it.  It they wanted to clothe us, graciously accept.  It they wanted to give us gifts, celebrate it.  As a young person from the west, this was hard to consider.  We were going into the third world, and I wanted to give all I had to serve the people there.  It was made clear to me though, that there is a dignity to be offered when serving. 

We don’t need to be heroes.  We need to be humans. 

And to be human is to serve, and to be served – both.  To give graciously and to graciously accept.  To have seasons where we pour out and seasons where we need to receive care. 

I was reflecting this week on examples of koinonia in my life and I want to share a few with you. 

This is Cortlan (back row, second from the left). 

If you read The Refuge, you’ll recognize his name from the acknowledgements.  Cortlan has been a dear friend of mine for over two decades.  There are several things I could list about Cortlan that I love, but the thing I admire most is the way he participates in koinonia.  Cortlan is not just part of community, he creates community.  He serves community.  He brings community together.  Everything Cortlan works toward is about laying the pavement so someone else can launch into something greater.  He created a sweatshirt that says, “Normalize Success” because he wants everyone, regardless of station, to have access to the very best for themselves and for their families.  Cortlan mentors youth, participates in service projects, does an annual secret blessing for someone in need on his birthday, and regularly participates in young professional groups.  These are just two photos of Cortlan engaging in service for his community, with his community.

Cortlan highlights well the partnership, participation, and togetherness that make up the heart of koinonia, and he does it willingly, and with great joy.  

This is Mark and Karen. 

I met Mark and Karen through a small group community at Mosaic.  They have four grown girls and two sweet dogs and live in a beautiful house by the lake.  They are what you would call ‘lake life people’ in the absolute best sense of the term.  Mark and Karen are dressed in smiles and have hearts that are set on listening, welcoming, and empathizing.  They both do this supremely well for anyone they happen across and because of it, they find themselves the heart of several koinonia spaces.  Recently Mark and Karen needed a dog/house sitter, and I needed a place to stay with Samson.  We swapped efforts.  I was able to offer them a dog/house sit, and they were able to offer me a beautiful and life-giving place to lay my head.  I kept looking around their home, which is so deliberately set up for hosting community, and thinking that they have created a life toward and for koinonia.  Our trade of efforts was just one, small, beautiful expression of that, and it was possible because they have been intentional.  We were able to serve each other in mutual benevolence, both very happy to help the other, both participating, both giving, both receiving.  This is just a small example of how Mark and Karen live in koinonia, but it’s an adept picture of their greater existence.  They live for, and in, and toward koinonia. 

This is Clint. 

I really like Clint.  He doesn’t have a pretend face, and I think that’s a rare gift in this world.  With Clint, what you see is truly what you get.  He’s not afraid to be vocally thankful or afraid or vulnerable and I think that is the stuff that makes community authentic – it makes it really mean something.  When I’m on the road, Clint is one of the first people to say, “This is your home, our door is open.”  When Clint and his wife moved into a brand-new home, they let me move all of my earthly possessions into their house where they sat in a pile on the ground for a month while I got my act together.  Clint has watched my dog, bought me dinner, cried with me, loaned me his truck, and has been a primary driver of wanting to celebrate some of my big life things like launching a book, finishing grad school, signing contracts, and having birthdays.  Clint does koinonia well without even knowing what koinonia is (and that sentence just made him laugh).  It should be noted that Clint’s wife is one of my besties and an entire book could be written on her koinonia, so her stories are being saved for a later date.  Today, I want to shine a light on Clint, who unknowingly slays at the concept of koinonia because it’s just who he is.  

This is Gina (in the middle).  

I met Gina at a service day where she and I both showed up to roll up our sleeves and do some work while we tried to build some community at the same time.  Since then, I have watched Gina create koinonia by asking people to coffee, asking people to try new hobbies, and introducing people who have commonalities.  Gina regularly invites people to concerts, dinners, joins studies, small groups, and serves her community in several ways.  She reaches out to encourage people, she calls and connects with people, and she leads people in prayer at the turn of a breath.  Gina has not had an easy road and because of that, she has a lot to offer.  Instead of letting hardship hinder her, she has decided it is her best tool to serve other people.  Gina is a brilliant example of someone who mindfully creates koinonia everywhere she goes, and it is a beautiful thing to watch; and it’s a beautiful gift to receive. 

When I looked around at my world, these examples of people bringing koinonia to life came to my mind almost instantaneously.  They are living in and creating koinonia in beautiful and authentic ways every day and I want to learn from each of them.  I also want to invite you – not only to be a part of this koinonia, The Blog Koinonia, but to create and step into koinonia wherever you are, in whatever way feels most appropriate for you.  (Note that I didn’t write ‘whatever feels most comfortable for you’.  Engaging in koinonia may not always be cozy, and I think if it feels a little uncomfortable, that means we’re probably doing something right.).   

I’m a far cry from having koinonia figured out, but my hope is that through this space, The Blog Koinonia, that you feel welcome.  I hope you learn something, somehow, someway – and I hope to learn from you.  I hope we grow together, refine together, and celebrate together.  I don’t think koinonia is meant to be a utopia, but the journey will not be as great, or as vibrant, or as dynamic, or as special, or as meaningful – without you in it. 

If you’re in, drop a note below about your favorite examples of koinonia in your life.  I would love to celebrate them with you.