The Koinonia of the Ekklesia, Part III

In this trilogy of blogs, this third and final installment deals with the importance of not only knowing what it means to be in fellowship, but also the importance of protecting it. 

As I was teaching this I couldn’t help thinking of another trilogy, a trilogy of movies, that came out between 2001-2003.  The trilogy that I’m referring to is, The Lord of the Rings.  The Lord of the Rings movies were based on a three-volume book written by J.R.R. Tolkien about a young hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins and his journey to a place called “Mount Doom,” in the land of Mordor, to destroy a ring that has been the cause of much death, destruction, greed and evil in the world he lives in called “Middle Earth.” 

This difficult journey is made a little easier because Frodo has not been left to take it on his own.  He is joined by eight companions consisting of three hobbits, one Maia, an elf, a dwarf and two men.  These nine companions form “The Fellowship of the Ring,” and together they embark on the journey with a common purpose—destroy the ring at Mount Doom, as well as the ring’s creator, the Dark Lord Sauron. 

In the first movie, it doesn’t take long before we realize that there are many dangers looming for the fellowship.  First, there is the presence of outside evil forces that will do anything to get possession of the ring.  Secondly, there are many opportunities for their fellowship to be destroyed from within. 

May I say it is no different with the fellowship of the Church.  This fellowship that we have with one another in the church is something that is very special.  Here are a couple of the reasons why:

1. The fellowship that we have is God’s idea.  He has always longed to have fellowship with us.  Just look at Adam and Eve, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, David, and the people of Israel, and you will quickly begin to see how important this is to Him.  He also longs for us to have fellowship with one another.  Jesus prayed for this fellowship in John 17.
2. This is a fellowship of “light.”  In 1 John 1:5-7, the apostle John wrote, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all…But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”  The apostle Paul shares this same message with the church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 6:14) when he says, “…what fellowship hath righteousness and unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness?”

You see, the fellowship of the church is very special.  Together we make a difference in a world that seems to be steadily headed in the wrong direction.  The devil knows this and that is why he would love nothing more than to destroy the church. And he will attempt to do so by any means necessary. 

• He will use outside forces.  Just pay attention to the different media outlets today and it won’t take long before you can see evidence of this.
• He will also try to destroy the church from within.  Some of the tactics he will use are…(1) differences of opinion (Acts 15:36-41), (2) differences of operation (Galatians 2:11-21) and (3) differences as a result of offenses (the New Testament book of Philemon).  

If this fellowship is so important to God that He initiated it, to Jesus that He prayed for it, and to the devil that he will do anything to try to destroy it, then it should also be important enough to us that we will stand together to protect it.  There will be tests along the way, but by the grace of God, we will stay together.