Fellowship is defined as a “friendly association sharing mutual interests”. Musicians being the special group they are like to take this a step farther and give it a fancy French name: “Ensemble”, or, “a group of people that come together to function as a unit”. At the beginning of each school year I lecture my students about the importance of regular attendance, as each class period is an ensemble rehearsal. If a student misses a class, not only are they depriving themselves of what they could learn from the group around them, but perhaps more importantly, they are depriving the group of what they as an individual have to offer.
The fellowship of believers is much the same. When we are absent from the church body we both lose communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and also deprive the body of a member. Paul reminds us in Romans 12:5 that “in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” The writer of Hebrews also exhorts us to “not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” In short, we are urged to remain in fellowship with like-minded believers, not simply for our own sake, but also for theirs.