Acts 2:42; 46-47
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
What is healthy, Christian community supposed to look like? Unfortunately, many American churches are far from the original design God had for His Church. We have let our culture and worldly influence have too much say in our churches today. Many American churches are grand buildings, ran like a business, and marketed to be a “safe place” to get your Jesus on in the midst of “normal life”. There is more of an emphasis to appeal on the masses than there is to transform lives with the Gospel.
The book of Acts narrates the birth and growth of the early Church after Jesus’ ascension into Heaven. When you understand what the disciples had just experienced and the opposition they were faced with, it is truly amazing to read about the boldness and expansion that happened through the work of the Holy Spirit. The way the early Church lived in community is a beautiful display of what we can have in our own lives. It is possible! We can live in America in 2024 just as believers did two thousand years ago.
In Acts 2, we see what the new believers did when they got together. They devoted themselves to the teaching of the Gospel, ate together in fellowship, prayed, and praised in worship. They didn’t do this on certain important religious holidays. They didn’t do this when they had a free Sunday morning. They did this EVERY DAY! It was a lifestyle. The Gospel had transformed them in such a way that it became their way of life, not a simple activity done once a week to get their “God tank” filled up like visiting a gas station.
I know we must make a living, raise children, care for our parents, and keep the basic function of our households running. This isn’t a plea to dump our responsibilities behind and live at church. This is a shift in priorities and perspectives. As believers, we are called to be transformed by the Gospel, live as citizens of Heaven, and make disciples as we spread the Good News of Jesus. Colossians 3:23-24 reminds the Church, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
This can start with simple changes. Devote time each day to God’s Word, prayer, and praise. As you do this individually and grow in your faith, it will overflow into every area of your life. Shift the compartmentalizing perspective of the “church box” do a daily rhythm of feeding your soul with Truth. Click here for tips on how to do this.
As you prioritize and align your heart to walking with God each day, it will be like ripples in a pond. It starts with you, then touches those you live with, those you work with, then those you recreate with. With intentionality, over time, you will be surrounding yourself with a community of fellow believers with the same perspective and priorities as those in the early Church. Pray about inviting a friend or two to help hold each other accountable each day. Are there already small groups at your church you can join that are offering Bible study and accountability? What changes are needed to prioritize Christian fellowship in your daily and weekly routine?
I think it is also important to notice that the early church didn’t show up with an expectation of being consumers or benefactors of a program. If we join a small group, church, or other Christian community with an anticipation of ingesting, we will be disappointed every time. Yes, we need to be fed in order to grow spiritually but with growth also comes the call to serve. It was a communal spirit that pulsed through the early Church. They each came with what they had and offered it as sacrificial service to the group as a whole. We all have gifts, talents, and resources to offer the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:12-20
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
If you are already in a healthy, growing, disciple making church, pray about how you can grow deeper in the community of faith. Find a small group or Bible study class that will encourage you, support you, and hold you accountable. Have a heart to be a source of encouragement, support, and accountability to others in love. If you don’t have a church or feel your church isn’t a healthy source of growth and discipleship, pray that God will lead you to a place that is. When you understand God’s design and desire for His children to be in community, it helps you make the tough decisions to find a new church. Please don’t let the expectations of tradition, legacy, or complacency keep you in a dead church going through the motions or allowing you to hide in a large crowd without accountability and relationship.
May there be a since of urgency to surround yourself with fellow believers to stand firm in your faith as the culture and world around us crumples. May the Holy Spirit renew a desire for Truth and give you a hunger for the things of Heaven.
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.