John says that we can’t claim to have fellowship with Jesus if we don’t do the things Jesus did. Kind of like high school. You can’t be on the football team if you don’t show up for the workouts or practices or games. You can say you are part of the team, but you’re not doing anything that tells me you’re truly part of the team. And you can’t be in the band if you don’t practice, or if you don’t show up at the rehearsals, or if you don’t actually do anything in the performances. You’re not really part of the band. And it’s true of academics. You can’t excel in academics if you don’t go to class, and if you don’t turn in your work, and if you don’t study for tests. But that’s not all. John reveals another really big truth. If we have fellowship with God, then you’re going to have fellowship with other believers who have this same relationship to God. If you play football, you’ll know other football players. If you’re in a band, you’re going to know other band members. And even in something as isolated as academics, if you take academics seriously, you’re going to know other people who are taking academics seriously. Guys, if fellowship doesn’t exist between believers, then any claim to have fellowship with God is … invalid. If you don’t have fellowship with the church, if you don’t have fellowship with other Jesus followers, then you don’t have fellowship with God. That may scare you. But you can’t be a Jesus follower alone.