Being in a fellowship — Faith — Stylin' Granny Mama

Most of us are familiar with Lord of the Rings, a book series by JRR Tolkien, made even more famous by film director Peter Jackson in his epic films. The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of the trilogy, and it tells the story of how the young hobbit Frodo comes to have the ring of power, and how he becomes the bearer of it to its place of destruction in Mordor. It also introduces characters such as his best bud Samwise Gamgee who becomes his closest support on this harrowing adventure; as well as the Gray Wizard Gandalf, and the ranger, Strider, along with numerous other interesting characters.

I am not a Tolkien aficionado, and I am sure people much more learned than me can draw conclusions about the books and what the author’s intentions were. One of the things I pull from this first work was the necessity of the fellowship. This task to destroy the “one ring to rule them all” and ultimately to destroy the darkest wizard Sauron was not meant to be Frodo’s alone. Every single main character introduced is part of the bigger picture and has a role to play in defeating the dark lord.

This fellowship was not one born of whimsical tales and songs around a roaring fireplace at the local pub. It was wrought in suffering from the tops of the Misty Mountains, to the depths of the Mines of Moria, to the forests of Lothlorien, to the darkness of Isengard, to the stalwart walls of Helms Deep. Though the fellowship technically fell apart at Amon Hen with Frodo and Sam continuing their journey towards Mount Doom, and Strider, Gimlee and Legolas setting off to save the two other Hobbits in the Fellowship, Merry and Pippin; they do not forget the purpose of the Fellowship and the need for Frodo to succeed in destroying the ring.

This past weekend we celebrated the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The thought occurred to me that similarly to the tale of The Fellowship of the Ring we as Christ followers are engaged in The Fellowship of the Cross. When we accept Christ as our Lord, we commence a journey of taking our flesh to the fiery depths of Mount Doom. Our victory over our enemy is already sure, but our walk in this world is a battle agains both the desires of our flesh and the enemy who would see us overcome by despair and destruction.

When I speak to the Fellowship of the Cross, to what exactly am I referring? The word fellowship can be defined as follows: companionship; company; community of interest, activity, feeling or experience; a company of equals or friends. When we are in fellowship around the cross of Christ we are like minded individuals who understand the necessity of His perfect sacrifice for our sin.

We have all sinned. There is not one person free of the curse that came into play shortly after the world began.

“21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

— Romans 3:21-26 (NASB 1995)

We are all under the shadow of death.

“20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.
22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

— Romans 6:20-23 (NASB 1995)

It was God’s love that that set the plan in motion.

“6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

— Romans 5:6-11 (NASB 1995)

Our belief in Him will not leave us disappointed.

“9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

— Romans 10:9-13 (NASB 1995)

Like the fellowship in Tolkien’s adventure we who are part of the Fellowship of the Cross know the cost involved, but we also know there will be a future glorification. As the above passage reiterates there will be no distinction between Jew and Greek. This truth crosses time and race. All those who love Jesus and who have come into the Fellowship of the Cross will one day be with Him and fall at His feet in worship and adoration.

Just as in the fictional story of Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring, there is beauty in the difficulty of the road we walk as we are united in one purpose, to glorify Him forever. While it is true that we are united in the Fellowship of the Resurrection as well, it is our journey to the cross that parallel’s Frodo and Sam’s journey to cast the ring into the heat of Mount Doom. It is at the foot of the cross that we cast our pride, our lust, our selfishness and all of our sin, released at last as we watch the blood consume the wretched shackles that once held us bound.

In the Fellowship of His Cross, we are free.

Once again we are walking slowly through a particular portion of scripture. I love to take a small piece, maybe a few chapters, one chapter or in this case, just a few verses and completely devour it, seeing what we can get out of His Word. I always find it fascinating that God can speak to us anew, even from a portion of scripture that we have read over and over. Just like this horse is chewing up that delectable grass, we too can enjoy the delights of God's word.

We are looking at 2 Timothy 2:20-26:

“20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor.
21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
23 But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.
24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

— 2 Timothy 2:20-26 (NASB)

If you are just joining me today, you can go back and see the first two posts on: 2 Timothy 2:20 and 2 Timothy 2:21, by clicking on the links. Today we are chewing on verse 22.

“22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

— 2 Timothy 2:22

This verse is pretty straight forward, but lets take a closer look.

Now flee...

Is there anything more able to get your adrenaline churning, than when someone yells, "Ruuuuuunnnnn"? Think about a few of the movies that have been on the big screen, Star Wars, Indian Jones. The Avengers, or how about the iconic Forrest Gump scene:

This is what Paul is telling us to do. Run as fast as you can away from those things that cause us to sin and turn away from God. We are to flee, like those monsters chasing us are going to eat us alive.

...from youthful lusts....

Paul was writing this letter to a young man, Timothy, who had become a pastor of one of the early churches. He encourages Timothy to flee those youthful lusts, or the things that so commonly grab our attention as young people: improper relationships, money, power, popularity and feeding our appetites are all things that constantly pull at us when we are young. It is sad that so many give in to these distractions, rather than waiting on God and allowing HIm to fill their every need.

Let me draw this out a bit further. I believe as mature Christians we can also be distracted by many things that are less than God's best for us. Think about the shows you watch, the food you eat, the things you buy. How many of these are done to fulfill our lust. Lust isn't just about sex. It is anything that takes precedent over our relationship with God. Am I saying you can't watch that show you love, or eat that cake or buy that dress? No, but we do need to allow God to monitor our actions and speak truth to us, if these types of things are becoming a problem. For some, moderation is easy, for others, myself included, not so much. Sometimes God has to rip things out of our lives to bring us into line with where He wants us to be.

...and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace...

I decided to lump all of these characteristics together. These are four things we are to pursue. Behind us are the things we are to flee. In front of us is what we are to pursue. Righteousness or godliness, faith or belief, love and peace. We need to chase after these things as if they are rare butterflies that we are wanting to add to our collection.

People who enjoy hobbies such as butterfly or bird watching, desire to see species which are rare or very rarely seen. It is their passion, just as a rock climber loves to scale mountains or an artist loves to paint or mold something out of clay. They have a passion about discovering or creating something new. In the same way we are to pursue these specific qualities We are to have a passion about pursuing God. He shouldn't be someone we occasionally think about, but a being we have a living and passionate relationship with. If we are pursuing the characteristics of righteousness, faith, love and peace we will be pursuing the author who created them.

...with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart.

Not only are we to pursue those characteristics, but we are to do it with others who call on the Lord with a pure heart. This seems to encourage us to be in a fellowship with other believers. My husband and I are between churches right now, but we both feel the need to get back into a regular fellowship. It is in the corporate worship and gathering together of like minded people, that we find accountability, stability and the sort of input that encourages growth in our relationship with Christ.

That being said, let me say, I know what it is like to feel as though the church let you down. Or, to feel like an outsider because of circumstances you had no control over. I get it, and sometimes God will draw us out of the body, to walk a path through a valley, in which we are alone, but I do not believe He intends that we stay there. We need each other, even if only to aggravate each other enough to pursue God with even more passion! Ha, ha.

I hope you are enjoying this study of 2 Timothy 2 and I hope today you will examine your own life and see what God is trying to say to you. Is there something you need to flee? Do you need to have more passion in your pursuit of God, or like us, do you need to get back into a fellowship with other believers? Seek God for wisdom and help. He is always faithful.

Have a great day.