Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The [Necessary] Role of Fellowship in our Sanctification

"I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge 
of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ." (Philemon 6, ESV)

In the Greek, this is a very difficult verse to translate into English, as a quick perusal of the many translations of, and technical commentaries on, this verse make clear.

One of the most important principles we learned in studying Greek in seminary is that "context is always king." In other words, as important as scrutinizing every noun, verb, preposition, and participle is, the best way to interpret a passage is to fit it into the overall flow and argument of its surrounding context. 

For example, a sermon emphasizing evangelism will undoubtedly select the NIV's translation:

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, 
so that you will have a full understanding 
of every good thing we have in Christ."

Rendered this way, the verse would meant that as we "share the gospel with others", we will begin to understand more fully all of the treasures of the gospel that are at our disposal.

Though this certainly preaches well, we need to ask ourselves, "Is this is what Paul is trying to convey to Philemon in light of the overall thrust of his letter?"

In the previous verse, Paul has just expressed his thankfulness to God for Philemon's faith in Christ which is inseparably linked with - and thus expressed in - a demonstration of his love toward all the saints (v. 5).

The idea between these verses seems to be this:
Philemon, you have demonstrated that you are a believer in the Lord Jesus through the expression of your tangible and generous love towards His people. By sovereign grace, your runaway slave Onesimus has become one of Christ's "saints" (cf. vv. 10, 16). Accordingly, refresh my heart by showing him the love of Christ as well (demonstrated most notably in forgiving him). Receive your new brother-in-Christ with the same generosity that you would receive me, your father-in-Christ (v. 17).
This is precisely what the word koinonia in v. 6 means. It means not so much sharing in the sense that we use it in our modern Christianeze vernacular (i.e. evangelistically), but rather the generous sharing of one's life with other Christians in community. Paul is entreating Philemon not so much to share his faith with respect to evangelism, as he is entreating him to share his faith with respect to generous love.

Now this love is generous in every area: forgiveness, patience, humility, money, time, patience, giftings, deference...everything. 

This is the necessity of Christian community for our common growth in grace. Here is my paraphrase of this massively important verse: 
As we lovingly empty ourselves for the good of others in our community, we will begin to understand and experience the vast, unlimited treasure trove of Christ's riches in grace. 
Put negatively, when we hoard our spiritual resources to ourselves, we will never understand all that Christ has 'put in the tank' (or, bank account), so to speak.

When we actively practice biblical koinonia (i.e. fellowship in the Spirit, Philippians 2:2), we begin to do radically, grace-empowered things, like forgiving our brothers and sisters in Christ; we begin to esteem others as more important; we live sacrificially for the good of others; we share generously of our homes, food, time, money, talents, etc. As we make it our habit to live in community this way, then - and only then - will we begin to understand that Christ's grace is sufficient for all these things, that "we can do all things in Him who strengthens us [to do these very things]" (Philippians 4:13).

As we "share" our faith in this way, our understanding of every blessing that belongs to us in Christ will correspondingly be deepened; we will increasingly begin to "know" Christ in much richer ways.

Dear Christian reader, do you long to experience (lit. "know") more of Christ's riches in your life? Then I appeal to you, as Paul did with Philemon, to be generous in your love towards the saints. This is a great benefit to the cause of Christ in the world (v. 20).

Surprisingly, though I disagree with the "evangelistic" translation of the NIV, this verse, when properly translated and interpreted, is an effective "evangelism" methodology in the NT: as we "share our faith" with one another, we ultimately "share our faith" with a watching world (cf. John 13:35, etc.).

[Sacrificial] love-in-action-in-community is a powerful apologetic to a world that, because of its sinful selfishness, experiences very little of, yet desperately longs for. For example, having a ton of 'friends' on Facebook does not fill the void that this kind of "fellowship" in true [Christ-centered/like] community can. This is powerfully proclaimed in word and deed in a Spirit-filled, Christ-imitating community of "saints".

May we be enabled by the grace of Christ to make every effort to maintain & further the unity of the Spirit we who are in Christ have! This is what a city on a hill looks like! It cannot be hidden.

In Christ, and for His glory to the ends of the earth,
pastor ryan