"We can get so caught up with kingdom details" that we miss the actual goal, which is to pursue the King himself, and mature as his body; a dwelling place for him.
I have been doing a lot of rethinking and evaluation on what the word "church" actually means to me, and what I want it to look like in my life. The question I am posing today, is the same question I have been wrestling with myself for the last 3 years...¿What happened to simplicity of the Church of Acts?
Having been raised, practically my whole life, in a Christian environment, it is hard sometimes to know what I actually believe and what I have been socialized to believe. Children who grow in a predominantly Christian environment can be extremely "church-ed", so that answers to questions like: "What is the Church?" can sometimes come from auto-pilot instead of deep convictions of faith or even an experience with God himself.
Sort of like when I use to go to Sunday school. When asked a question about the lesson, the answer was usually Jesus, God, or the Devil lol. Well I don´t want to approach my relationship with God this way, nor would I like to set this example for others. Church life is so important and directly connected with the way we and others experience and interrupt God.
It is recorded that Jesus only used this term "church" twice in the NT (Matthew 16:18, 18:17). The word "church" is primarily used by Paul in his epistles. Paul never refers to the church as a physical structure but as a dedicated group of disciples; a new race redeemed by the blood of Christ (Mounce's Expository Dictionary).
I wonder what the people in the book of Act would think about the modern day church. Or better, what does Jesus think? Of course Jesus looks at her with compassion and is entirely committed to seeing her mature. Still, what does he think about her habits and indoctrinations?
My thing is this...if the church is indeed a group of people, and not a building, why are we so distracted in making it just that?! Why has the task of "doing/having church" become more important then the actual people that it consist of? The fact of the matter is this: Without real relationships, without covenant agape love, there is no church! You might have people, but minus the relationships and you have a nice entity with no power or influence outside of those four walls that contain it. I am not saying that non-Christians are unable to value and maintain real relationships. BUT... this "compelling love" that is spoken of in the NT to lay down our lives for one another, can only be born from that new life, that "new race" (1Peter 2:9). I believe part of the reason the Gospel of Jesus Christ has made it so far is, those men and women of Acts were committed to each other in deed, and not just in word.
Acts 2:42-47 describes the fellowship of the believers of the early church as this...
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 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."
Verse 42 being a foundational verse for understanding the early church, describes a group of believers who lived together in a simple way. As they gathered, they discussed the scriptures, prayed, fellowship, and celebrated the Lord's Supper. They are not described as doing many, many different things. It is simple as opposed to something complex.The church was, and is not a physical place. In the New Testament it primarily refers to the spiritual Body of Christ on the earth. "And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints [holy ones] for the work of service, to the building up of THE BODY OF CHRIST; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the true knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13).
Why then have many fallen into the idea of having church look any other way? Don´t get me wrong. I am one for new expression, order, thinking ahead, and all that. Still I find it hard to accept that elaborate programs and church politics is what Jesus had in mind. Especially if this means over looking peoples actual needs for the sake of the task. Just because the model of the early church is primitive does not deem it as useless or unnecessary.
Thanks for reading!
