For as long as I can remember the word ‘fellowship’ brought to mind coffee, donuts, maybe a potluck or two, and the presence of Christian friends or the church family.  Whatever the case, it involved food and people (when I moved to Virginia I fit right in with the Baptists).

In reading a pamphlet by Michael Pearl, The Protestant Confessional, I came to a new understanding of fellowship.  The pamphlet was on 1 John, specifically 1 John 1:9, which says:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But prior to that pivotal verse John writes in verse 3:

…that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

He can’t mean we are having lunch with the Trinity, so what is the true definition of fellowship?  According to Michael Pearl, ‘fellowship’ means to have a share in something.  Historically, when two people bought a plot of land together, they each had a share, or a fellowship, in that land.  They were partial owners and therefore receivers of the harvest the land would yield.

Verse three takes on a different tone when we replace the word ‘fellowship’ with its original concept of shared partnership:

…that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you have a share with us, and indeed our partnership is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Fellowship is not social interaction coupled with great food; it is much weightier.  Our fellowship with each other is not founded on the events we attend or the desserts we bring, but our ’share’ in Jesus Christ.  Adopted as sons of God upon salvation, we are fellow heirs in the inheritance of Christ:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying “Abba! Father!”  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.  (Gal. 4:4-7)

Our fellowship with Christ determines how we fellowship with others.  If we truly have a share in Christ, then as Paul wrote in Galatians, His Spirit dwells in us and will exude a Christ-like character that reflects the fellowship we have with Him.  No more gossip at the church potluck!

It’s a new perspective on what fellowship truly is.  It may change the way we throw the word around… it’s not something for Sunday afternoon.  It’s a way of life.

That first ride is usually a little rough.  The horses won’t go or they won’t stop; they buck and twist out from under you; they bolt for no reason and spook at shadows.  They don’t want to obey in any fashion whatsoever.  They want to cling to their freedom.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”  (Galatians 5:1)

Freedom is a wonderful but often misunderstood concept.  For many, freedom means the opportunity to do whatever one desires.  This is so for a horse — an animal with no soul and no moral compass.  However, the animalistic, natural desire to follow whatever we choose is not true freedom.  If this were so, Paul’s words to the Galatians would make no sense!  If we are free before Christ’s sacrifice, then what happened afterwards?

The horse, running wild in the field, may be beautiful, but he serves no purpose except to gratify himself.  He eats, he drinks, he runs, he mates, and he does it all over again.  Outside of his own desires he has no purpose.  But when a man takes that horse and trains it, taking those natural desires and bridling them, the horse becomes something so much more beautiful because it fulfills a purpose in life.

Christ set us free for freedom. He didn’t take it away from us.  Like the trainer, he sees a potential in us that we can never see for ourselves.  Before that potential can be realized, however, the horse has to be broken of his stubborn will and bent to the will of his master.  If he returns to his former state (by being out of use for the winter months) he will have to go through the whole process again.

Consider how this applies to us.  Christ set us free so that in his freedom we could realize all the potential in our lives.  We don’t always see beyond our immediate desires, but he does.  Don’t go back to where you were before!  Submit yourself to the will of our Master and let him show you what true freedom feels like.

After one semester spent practicing on Liberty’s equestrian team, I began praying about a ministry for girls that allowed them some participation with the animals I love so much.  Now in this semester, I have decided to start up a small study for girls on the campus to attend.  It’s very informal, but it will combine some teaching about the horse itself and the art and science of horsemanship with Biblical concepts pertinent to the girls’ lives.

The relationship between the horse and rider is a good analogy to our relationship with God.  Just as the horse is gradually trained to be in tune to its rider’s desires, so we are developed by the Lord to be most effective for him.  The more rebellious a horse is, the longer the training process — whether the trainer decides to ‘gentle’ or ‘break’ him.

I am so excited to see the study begin, small as it may be!  Please pray that it would be a blessing to the girls and that I would be able to bring some joy to their lives through this.

I have been so delighted to meet the ladies at my table.  It has been great being away from home but hard as well, because I don’t have my parents or my siblings, and in college you only ever see two kinds of people: college kids and elderly professors.  It’s refreshing to see babies and middle aged people again!  In all seriousness, however, this study has already proved to be exactly what I need at this point in my life and I am excited to begin it.  I will probably be sharing some of the insight I get from Priscilla’s writing as I go through the next six weeks.

God Bless!

Phylicia

The real reason I was so weak compared to my sisters is that I have always run on a treadmill.  My goal has been to do only the minimum workout to increase my heartrate and burn calories.  So running on uneven terrain for long distances brings out my worst in ability and temperament.

I thought I was doing pretty well on that treadmill, actually; I was doing the ‘Champion Course’ program, a title which made me feel rather accomplished.  I had my music pumping me up and keeping me going, and the nice conveyor belt pulled my feet along even when my legs couldn’t take another step.  The funny thing is, real ground doesn’t move.  Real terrain isn’t flat and hard like the conveyor, it’s bumpy and soft.  I have been running in a sheltered environment, and when I have to face reality, I’m too weak to tough it out.

I was reading in Philippians again today (It’s been a while!) and I found an interesting corrollation between my physical weakness and the spiritual exercise I have yet to face each day:

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let those of us who are mature think this way…”  (Phil. 3:12-15)

Life is ultimately about pressing on.  If there’s anything at all that I have learned in my extensive nineteen years, it is that sitting around is comfortable for a few moments, but the getting up, the moving forward, the running when it hurts is what makes life beautiful overall.  It’s looking back and seeing how far you came because you pushed past the pain.  I call it “You’re In the Army Now”.  Sometimes I even say that to myself when I feel like giving in.  And it’s true:  we’re in the service… of our Lord.

And our Lord knows the road we run.  Walking from Nazareth to Jerusalem and back, as well as travelling over the rest of Israel, probably isn’t the equivalent of your evening stroll.  Our God walked it in sandals.  Dispersing food to a crowd of five thousand isn’t a church potluck.  Our God fed them within the lunch hour.  And climbing the hill to Golgotha with a beam on one’s back is more than any of us could take.  Our God climbed it after 39 lashes.

Because He knows the road He can help us run it.  He provides the strength necessary to achieve victory.  Paul didn’t just say he was ‘pressing on’ but that he was pressing on to make it his own.  If he chose the easy way continually he wouldn’t be able to reach the prize.  If we train on the treadmill of spirituality we will fail in the race of reality.

What does this mean?  This means you and I can’t read the Bible in the morning and expect a magical transformation.  We can’t even pray and expect God to work wonders on us throughout the day!  It will take the daily submission of our will  to keep us running in the right direction with all the strength God gives.  The treadmill approach settles for the minimum.  The training mentality settles for nothing.