Acts 2, The Message and TNIV translations
Acts 2 is one of the pivotal chapters in all of Scripture. The gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed for the first time (and in dramatic fashion!). Due to God's strategic timing, representatives of 15 countries (by my count) hear about Jesus and respond. Important side note: at this point, Christianity is still an exclusively Jewish faith.
Then we get the first, and perhaps to this day the most important description of the life and activity of the very first Christian church, the Church at Jerusalem. The portion of the three thousand new believers who lived in Jerusalem began to live in community with each other in a way no one had ever seen before. While much is made of the miracles and spiritual authority of the apostles, I strongly believe the first Christians' radical commitment to the life together was the more powerful proof of Christianity. Jesus said that his disciples would be known by the love they had for each other, and the first believers fulfilled that by embracing each other, growing together, serving one another sacrificially, and enjoying each other's company on a daily basis. And while they were devoted to each other, the community was not internally focused or closed off. They lived this life together in a rather public way, in full view. More and more people wanted to be a part of it and embrace the Savior who had transformed them.
I've read this passage dozens of times, maybe even hundreds (like I said, it's a really important passage), and the same question always seems to pop up for me: how did we start with Acts 2:42-47 and end up with what we experience as "church" today? When you read this passage, what aspects of early church life do you long for? What parts are you experiencing today, and what parts do you think are sorely lacking?
Well, I'm not sure who scared off all the commenters from yesterday, but I'll throw my two cents into this...First, let me start with something I see here that many contemporary churches are doing well - they speak the language of the people. I like that our generation of churches don't use the King James Version of the bible and that, for the most part, the speakers don't use that language either. I like that they are vulnerable and use language that my great-grandparents might find offensive today.
ReplyDeleteThat said, one of the things that I wish we were better at in our churches is seeing our following of Christ as a whole investment, rather than portioning it out to different areas of our lives. Compartmentalizing our faith is not only dangerous, but it robs our faith of it's power. I'd like to see us experience the "gift of the Holy Spirit" the way it seemed to infiltrate these people...it consumed them - their actions, their thoughts, their possessions, their plans, their everything.
I'd also like to see that in me, so I can't complain about the church much until it's really happening in me...