A study in Acts (2:43 & 47)

            The Impact of true   
              community


Not to long ago, I saw something on the T.V. that caught my attention. I believe it was the history channel. They were doing some retrospective on WW II. Part of this global conflict resulted in American forces dropping the Atomic bomb on two Japanese cities. The devastation that was caused by that explosion was incredible. I then began pondering on what exactly made the Atomic bomb so devasting. It seems based on what I could understand that atomic explosion is the result of an several atoms being brought together and then fueled with something like Plutonium creating this fusion thus resulting in this devasting blast. This atomic explosion reminded me of what I've been writing about over the last couple of weeks related to, "True Christian Community". When saved, committed, Spirit-filled believers spend quality time together in the Scripture, fellowship, communion and prayer, the result is an atomic explosion (i.e., massive impact).

Here's a question, "in light of the actions of the first century community of believers, exactly what kind of reactions did the first century community of believers recieve from the world at large"? In your Bible's turn to Acts 2, verses 43 & 47. In these two verses, I see three reactions to the first century community of believers.

I. The first reaction is fear (vs 43)"...and fear came upon every soul...." The word fear used in the Scripture can have at least two connotations. The first is, "respect or awe". The second is just plain ol terror. In Acts 2:43 the word fear means the latter. The first century community of believers provoked a healthy fear of God in a watching world. Let me describe for you the two ways in which this early Christian community provoked a healthy fear of God:

A. By their message (cf Acts 2:22-37; 3:13-26; 4:8-12) The message of the early church was very clear and focused, "Jesus Christ is the risen Lord, therefore everyone of you turn from your sin and confess Him as the only Lord and Saviour". I believe one of the reasons why the Christian community today is not having a great impact on the world at large is because our message is not very clear nor focused. Rather our message is confused and disjointed. A quote from one of my favorite preachers perfectly captures what I'm saying, "We live in a time when certainty and conviction about what is true is not tolerated. The politically correct attitude is one of uncertainty with nothing absolute. There's a new hermeneutic, a new science of interpretation called the Hermeneutic of Humility, and this is serious to the people who espoused this and their Hermeneutic of Humility say, "I'm too humble to think that I could ever know what the Bible really means and so I can only offer my opinion and I certainly can't say that this is in fact the truth." They pat themselves on the back congratulating themselves for such intellectual openness. Opinions and feelings tend to rule the mood of our time. And the church as it always does fall prey to this sort of post-modern inclusivism that wants to embrace everything everybody thinks as truth for them. And so the church has lost its convictions, its lost its certainties..." The message coming from the Christian community today cannot and will not foster a healthy fear of God because Christ is not at the heart of our message. The Christian community today for the most part is not preaching the Gospel of the risen Lord, the so-called Christian community today is not preaching, "Repentance and faith in Christ alone". Rather the Christian community today is preaching prosperity and sanctified materialism. The Christian community today is preaching "cheap grace" and "easy believism". The Christian community today is preaching tolerance and inclusivism. My wife Stacey pointed out to me the other day an online article concerning a black pastor who felt his mission was to apologize to the Lesbian community for how he and other Christians have treated them and condemned their so-called alternative lifestyles. And all of God's people said, WHAT!!!! Now I don't believe that anyone should be mistreated, God calls us to Love our fellow man, but apologizing for our message, that's crap!!

No wonder the world ridicules and laughs at the Christian community, because our message is weak, muddy, convictionless and uncertain and in no way reflects the message of our early Christian community predecessors.

B. By their ministry (cf Acts 2:43) Verse 43 states that incredible things were happening through the Apostles that validated their ministry and message. I confess that I'm a die-hard Dispensationalist who believes that the office of Apostle no longer exists, because the Apostles were a group of men specially chosen by our Lord for a specific ministry in time (e.g., the establisment of the Church and the writing of Scripture). Their office ceased when the last Apostle (i.e., John) passed from the earth and therefore also the necessity of special signs and wonders to validate their specific ministry. I believe that the Scriptures clearly teach that the things that validate the ministry and message of the Christian today are not signs and wonders, but rather Spirit-filled, obedient character (cf., 2 Cor 6). When the world at large sees our chaste and God-glorifying lifestyles, the result is fear. Check out this text from Philipians 2:27-28, "Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God". When the Christian community responds to life and one another in a God glorifying way, those that don't know God take notice and experience the fear of God. Another reason why the Christian community of today is not having the kind of impact in our world like we could and should is because our ministry is not very authentic/valid. Let me add this, a ministry that existed in the early Christian community that hardly exists today is the ministry of Church discipline. When the church practised healthy church discipline, the church encouraged a healthy fear of God. When Church discipline is practised, the message that is communicated is that, "we take sin seriously and so does God". Read the story of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). Church discipline when practised rightly validates the church as being truly of God and creates a healthy fear of God in the world at large. When it is not practised, just the opposite is true.


II. The Second reaction is favor (vs 47a) "...having favor with all the people..." The early Christian community because of her authentic message and ministry, won the respect of the world at large. They world may not have liked her, but they had to respect her. We as the Christian community are sadly mistaken if we think the way to garner the world's respect is by compromise and conformity. NO!! NO!!! NO!!! Listen, the only legitmate way that God's people will win peoples respect is through an authentic message and ministry.

III. The Third reaction is fattening (vs 47b) "........And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved..." Allow me the liberty to paraphrase what one commentator has written concerning this verse, "When the Christian community is truly Christian in it's message and ministry, it is a growing church.....the impact of the few at Pentecost had broadened and became the impact of many..."

In summary, when committed, Spirit-filled believers spend quality time together in the Scripture, fellowship, communion and prayer, with a committment to the right message and mininstry, The impact on the world at large is fear, favor and fattening.

For His Glory,
Todd

A study in Acts (2:44-47)

                          The Characteristics of true community (part 2)


In my last article entitled, "Characteristics of true community (part 1)" I stated, "If we today, are going to experience (i.e., live out) real, sharing, caring community, the same characteristics that described the early Christian community must be true of us also". According to Acts 2, verses 37-47, there are at least four key characteristics that described the early Christian community, so far we've looked at two:

1. They were a saved community(2:22-41)
2. They were a committed community(2:42)
a. They were committed to Scripture
b. They were committed to fellowshipc. They were committed to communiond. They were committed to prayer

The remaining two characteristics are found in Acts 2:44-46:

3. They were a together community(2:44-46) "...now all who believed were together...."Listen! A healthy, sharing, caring Christian community is impossible to experience once a week or at a distance. Believers must spend face to face time together. Brothers and Sisters, facebook, twitter, myspace are NOT substitutes for quality time spent together with other believers. Notice with me some of the things the early Christian community did to foster quality and quantity time together:

A. They shared together (vss 44b-45) The last part of verse 44 states that they, "....had all things in common". This phrase means that these believers shared their, "property and goods" with each other. In fact, verse 45 declares that these believers would sell their goods and give the proceeds to needy believers within the community. Boy! this is a far cry from what goes on in today's Christian community.

B. They worshipped and celebrated together (vs 46a) "Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house....". The early Christian community spent alot of time worshipping and celebrating the person and work of Christ. The Breaking of Bread is a way of referring to communion (cf., Luke 24:30; Acts 2:42; 20:7). The heart of true community is the person and work of Christ. True community cannot be experienced when Christ is not the main attraction. Again, notice something about the early Christian community, they focused on Jesus in the Temple (i.e., the official place of worship) and in the home. This means that whenever and wherever the Christians gathered, Christ was the focal point. Not so today, when Christians gather it's about everything but Christ (Can I get a witness!!).

C. They ate together (vs 46b) "....they were taking their meals together..." The early community would eat a common meal in connection with communion (cf., 1 Cor 11; Jude 12).

Again, let me say it, if we are going to experience real, sharing caring community, we must spend meaningful, quantiful time together.

4. They were a Spirit-filled community (Acts 2:46c-47a) "....with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God..." The evidence of the Spirit's control of these believers is seen in their attitudes toward the Lord and each other. The text states that they were full of joy, sincere (i.e., not fake and phoney) and praising God. All of these things give hearty evidence that the Spirit of God was in full control (cf., Eph 5:18ff & Gal 5:22-23). Nothing kills the experience of true community faster than being in the flesh. You may recall recently hearing in the news of members of a local church in North Carolina who got in a physical fight with each other over some issue in the congregation. The oil that makes the machinery of community run smoothly is the Holy Spirit.

In Summary:
As I stated in part one (see last weeks article) True Christian community is not something that can be conjured up or produced by some curriculum or program. Community is something that is organic to being a Christian. When I was born again by the Spirit of God, I became part and parcel of THE Christian community called the Body of Christ (in other words, we don't become a community, we are a community), but here's the rub, just because I'm part of the Christian community by new birth, does not mean that my experience of community is that wonderful. Again, if we today are to experience the kind of God glorifying community that existed in the early church we must possess the same characteristics that they possessed. So if you are hanging out with a group of frustrated believers trying to figure out why your community experience is not that that great, ask yourselves the following questions:
1. Are we saved? Does everyone in our group truly know Jesus as Lord and saviour? Remember! true community can't happen with non-christians.
2. Are we committed?
a. To Scripture
b. To Fellowship
c. To Communion
d. To Prayer
3. Are we spending meaningful time together?
4. Are we Spirit-filled?

In my next article from Acts 2:42-47, I want to look at the Impact of true community on a lost and dying world. When the church acts like the church is suppossed to act, the world is different.

For His Glory,
CoolImprov

A study in Acts (2:37-42)

                           The characteristics of true community (part 1)



I've been a follower of Christ for a few years now, and one of the reacurring themes that I've run across over these years focuses on the subject of community. I was once part of a local church who's theme for a particular season was, "...a sharing, caring, Christian Community....". I'm currently part of a small group who's focus is, "Contagious Christian community". Several years ago, my wife, myself and my then two year old daughter - who's now 17 - and three teenage girls in our youth group took a trip to the west side of Chicago to be part of a long established Christian community. As I reflect on the subject of community from a hopefully maturer perspective, an observation comes to mind. It seems to me that our understanding of community is like our understanding of "Church". When someone says, "I'm going to church", I totally understand what they mean, they mean that they are going to the building on the corner. But technically, to say, "I'm going to church" is incorrect. Why? Because the church is not a place, rather, the church is a people. Therefore, we don't go to church, we are the church. The same idea is true of community. Community is not something we try to pursue or produce, rather community is something that we are. The moment someone is converted to Christ, he/she becomes part and parcel of the Born-again community. Now here's the $100,000 question, "what kind of community are we"? Are we a dysfunctional, corrupted community or are we a healthy, sharing, caring community?
Please turn in your bibles to the book of Acts. The first six chapters of the book of Acts can be classified as, "The period of establishment", meaning that in these chapters we learn how the christian community was brought into existence. As we examine the establishment of the early Christian community, the question that's asked is, "what were some of the characteristics that described the early Christian community"? These same characteristics that existed in the early christian community, by way of continuity, should also be reflected in our experience of community. Let me say it this way, If we today, are going to experience (i.e., live out) real, sharing, caring community, the same characteristics that described the early christian community must be true of us also. According to Acts 2, verses 37-47, I see at least four key characteristics that existed in the early christian community:

First, they were a saved community (vss 37-41)
Acts 2:14-36 records Peters sermon to the crowd that explained what had just happened to the 120 believers in the upper room. Verse 37 states, "Now when they heard this (Peter's sermon), they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Peter responds in verses 38-40, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.....and with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!" Verse 41 states, "So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls"(NASB).

I believe the reason why many believers are not experiencing healthy, loving, sharing, caring community is because many of the folk involved aren't christians. One commentator writes, ""....only disunity and dissension can result when those who serve Christ try to work in harmony with those who serve Satan".

Second, they were a committed community (vs 42)
This idea of commitment is expressed in the phrase, "They were continually devoting themselves....." To be, "continually devoted" means that the early church community as a whole was ongoingly adhering to, persevering in, and continuing in something.

What?

Four things:
1. They were committed (i.e., continually devoted) to Scripture (vs 42a) "...the apostles' teaching..."
2. They were committed (i.e., continually devoted) to Fellowship (vs 42a) "....and to fellowship..."
The early church community adhered to and persevered in developing close, intimate interpersonal relationships with fellow believers around the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the center of true fellowship with other believers. When believers get together, Christ must be at the heart of the interaction.
3. They were committed (i.e., continually devoted) to communion (vs. 42b) ".......the breaking of bread..."
Communion is not so much about the elements of the bread and juice, but what the bread and juice represent, the finished work of Christ on our behalf. The early church community was committed to regularly remembering Christ's work of redemption.
4. They were committed (i.e., continually devoted) to prayer (vs. 42c) "....and to prayer" ..
The early church community lived on it's knees. Prayer was the life breath of the early christian community (Acts 1:14,24; 4:31; 6:6; 8:15; 9:40; 10:48; 13:31; 14:23).

In closing, maybe the reason why our experience of sharing, caring community is not that great is because maybe some of the people that traffic in our community aren't saved. Or maybe our community experience is undermined by people who aren't committed - to the four things mentioned above - Whatever the reason, I hope we have a better idea of how to pray to the sovereign God who can fix the problem. Next time we will look at the two remaining characteristics that marked the early church community.

For His Glory,
CoolImprov