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The Fellowship of the Gospel
Posted by David Rogers in Bible & Theology, Church & Missions
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3-5.
As a friend was reading this passage the other day, the thought came to me that the “fellowship in the gospel” that Paul mentions here is somewhat analogous to the “fellowship of the ring” in the Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien. Though I have seen each of the three movies on several occasions, I do not at all consider myself an expert on all things Tolkien. And, with “Strider” himself as part of our blogging cadre, I feel a bit hesitant to venture out into this terrain.
In any case, the thought of hobbits, and elves, and dwarves, and men, and a wizard, all united together in a singular cause, with epic consequences, and an exciting assortment of perils, conflicts, and adventures they must all go through together along the way, and how all this ties in to our fundamental unity as Christians for the cause of the gospel, has captured my imagination for the past week or two since the idea first came to me.
It may well be that this analogy was already in Tolkien’s mind, when he first coined the phrase and the concept “fellowship of the ring.” Some of you who are up on all this may be able to fill me in on this point. Certainly, though not technically an allegory, there are many Christian themes and symbols that underlie the things he wrote. Also, as I was mulling over this idea, and thinking about writing on it, I decided to google the phrases “fellowship in the gospel” and “fellowship of the ring,” and found out that R. Kent Hughes already wrote a commentary on Philippians a couple of years ago in which he makes the same analogy.
Anyway, for what it’s worth, here are some of the thoughts related to this that have come to my mind:
Just like the diverse collection of characters that comprise Tolkien’s fellowship of the ring, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we come from different backgrounds. We have different cultural baggage. We come from different denominations. On some points of interpretation, we have different understandings. But there is one essential thing that brings us together and binds us together as one: the gospel.
We have all been impacted and transformed by the same gospel. Each and every one of us, at one time in our life, were slaves of sin and Satan, and the grace of God has broken through, and the blood of Jesus has opened up a door for us to live in fellowship with God the Father, and with Jesus, God’s Son. We each have this in common.
We are also united in a common task: that of taking this same gospel to those around us, and to the ends of the earth, working together with our Master to see it work its miraculous transforming effect on those who are slaves just like us, setting them free, and bringing them into fellowship with God, and with us as well.
Viewed from this perspective, our fellowship is much, much more than juice and cookies and polite conversation after the evening service. We are striving together as comrades in a great adventure. Just like Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, Frodo, Sam, and even Pippin and Merry, in the big scheme of things, the individual contributions we each make have their own special relevance and significance.
Some of us, like Asia Bibi, and Said Musa, are on the front lines at this very moment, putting their lives at risk for the advance of this great cause that joins us together. Others of us are busy doing those things the Master of the cause has assigned us to do: praying, and giving, and bearing witness to those around us, in a very different context on the other side of the world. But we are all united together, working hand in hand toward the fulfillment of the same task: the advance of the gospel.
Over the past year or so, it has been a big blessing in my life to have a group of men with whom I meet on a regular basis to pray together. About 10 to 12 of us have met at 7 am every Wednesday at a local restaurant, and shared and prayed for revival in our personal lives, families, churches, and nation. A couple of these men have accompanied me on ministry trips overseas. When various ones of us have gone through crises in our families, we have joined together in covenant prayer, and have seen the grace of God come through in incredible ways.
Here at sbc IMPACT, we do not get to see each other physically quite so often. There are several of our fellow contributors, and many regular commenters, whom I have not yet met in person. And yet, I like to think we are joined together, as well, in a special fellowship of the gospel. Even when we debate controversial issues, at the bottom line, as I see it, we are seeking together after truth, and, as iron sharpens iron, we are seeking to sharpen each other, and spur one another on to love and good works.
With other special groups, such as my family, my Connection Class members at Faith Baptist Church, and all my fellow church members at Faith, I share a special bond of fellowship as well.
I believe it is important in each of our lives to have special groups of people with whom we strive together more intimately for the cause of the gospel, just as the nine members of the fellowship of the ring lived and worked side by side in close communion during a particular time of their life. Our fellowship is not intended to be an ethereal, nebulous concept that we merely theorize about and read about in books, or on the internet.
But it is also an encouragement to me to think that millions of people, around the world, and down through history, are joined together with us in this same koinonia, this fellowship of the gospel. Paul addressed Philippians to “all the saints in Christ Jesus which [were] at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons” (Phil. 1:1). He addressed 1 Corinthians to “the church of God which [was] at Corinth, to them that [were] sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their’s and our’s” (1 Corinthians 1:2). His stated desire for the Philippians was that they “stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil 1:27). And, were he here with us today, no doubt, he would include us in this, along with them.
As I see it, all this ties in to Asia Bibi and Said Musa. For, immediately afterward, Paul says, “And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me” (Phil. 1:28-30).
And, in the Body, “whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor. 12:26). That is, we’re all in this together. Though my situation right now is worlds apart from theirs, I must learn what it means to suffer along with them. In a real way, I am joined together with Christ, and with them, not only in the fellowship of the gospel, but also in “the fellowship of his sufferings,” as Paul says later on in Phil. 3:10.
I hope this analogy does not trivialize something so serious as suffering. It is not all fun and games. Far from it. And, it is not, in one sense, a great adventure we take in, as if we were watching it from the cushioned seats of a cinema, or reading it in a book, nestled by the fire in our cozy armchair. But, it is, in another sense, the greatest adventure of all. And, the perils and the conflicts are very, very real. But, then again, so is the fellowship. And, if your life has been transformed by the same Lord, and you believe the same gospel, and you are committed to the same task as I am, I am happy to count you as a full-fledged partner in this marvelous fellowship we share together, the fellowship of the gospel.
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I thought at first from the picture that we were going to have an update from Strider on things in Middle Earth. Even better was a wider application of the LOTR concept of fellowship. Good thoughts, David, as we are engaged on a great quest.
The most remarkable thing to me about the LOTR was that Tolkien made heroes out of the least likely of creatures. Hobbits are small with almost no magical ability. They can remain hidden and out of sight when they want to with a certain strength of resilience that allows them to recover from the most traumatic of circumstances. The are neither swift nor strong nor mighty, yet they are the ones who hold the key to the defeat of the enemy.
In our fellowship of the gospel, I see the same thing. The weakest in least impressive in appearance are often the most resilient and heroic. Tis a mystery, but one I believe LOTR illustrates most clearly in both book and movie.
I find it an interesting analogy, David, though I am afraid it reveals our general nerdiness! I’ve loved these books for 30 years.
I think that perhaps the apt description of lots of us today is that we are sitting in Rivendell, enjoying the food and fellowship and wondering why we aren’t accomplishing anything. The Fellowship could only really accomplish their tasks by leaving comfortable Rivendell and moving out into the hard places.
David Rogers:
That was pretty strong. I may read it again but I find no fault in it on first reading.
I had similar fellowship couple weeks ago with a Rhodes Scholar nominee and a son of former ranking member of the BSSB.
I have commended Fleming Rutledge to you before. I hope you can find a copy of her collection of Sermons soon. And Marilynne on Pentecost, Fire and Creation page 245. You are ripe for it.
I commend it to you.
Stephen Fox
PS. Today on phone was talking to a life long African American friend who wrote for Lou Grant and St. Elsewhere in early 80′s, where he befriended among others, evangelical minister’s son Denzel Washington.
We talked about my Dad and Tim Tyson of Blood Done Sign my Name, and how we got over during first years of integration in Gaffney, SC. And last week talked to Black minister who sat in pews with Rosa Parks while Martin King preached at Dexter Avenue in late 50′s.
We Can all look back in Wonder even as we grope forward. As Marilynne Robinson asks, Who could have courage to See?
Here is the Robinson quote from her Pulitzer Gilead. It is sublime in itself even strong if you read the novel and consider it’s meaning, Kind of the book of Revelation to an aging Minister’s Testament in the 50′s in Iowa:
“It seemed to me somtimes as though the Lord breathes on this poor gray ember of Creation and it turns to radiance–for a moment or a year or the span of a life. And then it sinks back into itself again, and to look at it no one would know it had anything to do with fire, or light. That is what I said in the Pentecost sermon. I have reflected on that sermon and there is some truth in it. But the Lord is more constant and far more extravagant than it seems to imply. Wherever you turn your eyes the world can shine like Transfiguration. You don’t have to bring a thing to it except a little willingness to see. Only, who could have the courage to see it?”
Can’t decide who is able to do ‘sneaking past the watchful dragons’ best: Lewis, or Tolkien.
By the time an atheistic adult has wept at the death of Aslan and rejoiced at Aslan’s resurrection, he’s hooked.
It may or may not ever strike him that a seed had been planted;
but, if, by chance, he comes one day to hear the Christ story in future, some recognition of a memory may be awakened in him of the sound of distant lion’s roar.
There is something more mysterious to think about: how a Roman Catholic Tolkien was able to influence an atheistic young Lewis into becoming a reluctant Christian convert (Anglican)
and how they influenced each other to write books that speak to Christians of every denomination and persuasion.
Whatever gifts were given by God to these men to enable them to use myth to smash through the ‘frozen walls of religion’ and bring people further into the deeper meanings of the mystery of Christ, those gifts remain a blessing to many.
As to the ‘fellowship’ of the Gospel, of course there is . . . of course: all those ‘labels’ that separate? man-made, you know . .
I like what Edmund said in the Narnia Chronicles, when told that the professor knew who they were:
” Perhaps we’ve been incorrectly labeled. ”
Perhaps. by our own doing, we were.