In the early period of the church’s history one sees little evidence of formal meetings for ministerial fellowship but one does get the impression from Paul’s letters of a great deal of interaction between Paul and the others – people like Peter, John, Barnabas, Luke, John Mark, Timothy, Titus, Apollos, Aquila and a host of others. Their fraternal attitude is summed up in the words of Peter in 1 Peter 5:1, 2 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers - not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be.Fraternals are not a matter of Law or of ecclesiastical church government but a matter of wisdom and perhaps the best place to turn in Scripture for guidance on this matter is to the Book of Proverbs, so full of good advice on all sorts of matters.
An obvious place to begin is in Proverbs 27. There we have two verses that touch on this topic. Firstly, verse 9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel. The simile is drawn from the enjoyment that perfume and incense give by means of their penetrating aroma, especially in a hot climate. One of the advantages of friendship or fraternity is that a friend and fellow can tell you your faults and passionately urge you in the right direction in a way that an enemy cannot and in a way that even a family member cannot do so well. This is a part of fraternity.
Secondly, verse 17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. This simile is from the kitchen and is drawn from knife sharpening, which is often done by means of rubbing the knife up and down another piece of metal. Presumably the point is that friendly debate can be tremendously stimulating as scholars and artists and others will testify. Peer criticism brings many advantages. Loners can be very dull and boring. They can often lack penetration in a way that the man who has debated with others does not. In friendship sometimes the sparks fly but that is part of it. Certainly this is part of the reason for fraternals.
Similar to these is Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. The simile highlights two properties of honey – its sweetness and healing properties. The pleasant words that are in mind are those that are both sweet to the soul and likely to heal the bones. We instinctively think of pleasant words as being sweet to the body rather than healing the soul but this form of expression means all aspects are covered. The right words can heal relationships and restore well-being. Interestingly the only other place that mentions a honeycomb is Psalm 19:11 where it illustrates the sweetness of God’s Word. Think of the way that in a fraternal ministers can do good to each other through Word centred conversation.
Other more general proverbs regarding speech are also, of course, relevant.
12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
15:23 A man finds joy in giving an apt reply - and how good is a timely word!
15:26 The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to him.
25:11 A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
25:12 Like an ear-ring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear.These fit in with similar general NT exhortations to holy speech and to fellowship among believers. Together all this serves to underline the wisdom of ministers, as those who fear the LORD, meeting together and talking with each other, with the hope that the LORD will listen and hear (Malachi 3:16). In Hebrews 10:24 the writer says And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds and immediately goes on to talk about the importance of meeting together. Surely a ministers’ fraternal is one way of obeying such a verse.
(Next a brief history)
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