The Church

Acts 2:42-47 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, andmany wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 

I read the above passage this morning as part of my daily reading and it hit me: Are any churches this way? The group I fellowship with has a tendency to pride themselves in believing that they are a New Testament church. But after reading the above passage, I seriously doubt anyone is.

Let's break it apart. "They devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching." Many churches have great teachers; I won't deny that and I thoroughly enjoy listening to many on radio or Sunday morning or Tuesday nights. BUT it doesn't say listen; it says devoted themselves to. What does that mean or even more important what does that look like? I'm reminded here of the Bereans who after hearing the Word preached, checked for themselves the Scriptures to make sure that what was being taught was according to the Word of God - THE OLD TESTAMENT. The New Testament hadn't even been written at that point in time. Do we examine the Scriptures after we have been taught, or do we glibly accept what has been said? I have to admit that I don't very often. 

It's also not just checking out what they said to see if it lines up with Scripture, but it is then applying it to their lives. They were praising God and having favour with all people! And God was [adding] to their number day by day. We definitely don't see that. How much of my life is praise to God and being in favour with ALL people? Do I see anyone saved?

...the fellowship... I can't speak for all fellowships but the ones I am familiar with, there is a great lack in this area. Our idea of fellowship times are the break times between meetings or any potluck "fellowship" times. The thing is I believe that true fellowship is based on the Lord Jesus and knowing Him. How much of the time when we spend it with other believers is spent actually talking about Him and what He is doing in our lives? We are so afraid of being vulnerable that we hide behind our "busy"ness. It is easier to not open up to others about what God is teaching me for fear I might be misunderstood or even worse might be wrong about what I'm thinking. I'll just keep my Christianity between me and the Lord. No wonder we don't know our brothers and sisters in Christ. No wonder there is so much hurt in the Church. No wonder there are mega Churches exploding - it's easier to go there and hide and be accepted when I want to be.

I'll come back to the breaking of bread in a moment, but first I want to talk about prayer. Prayer: the easiest thing to do. Prayer: the hardest thing to do. It's easy because we can do it anytime, anywhere, about anything. It's hard because it means taking the time to talk to God AND to let Him answer. It's easy to fill up our lives with other things, but to take the time to talk to God, that's hard. But it's what He tells us we need to do. The Saviour was in constant communion with His Father and even then took deliberate times to get away so that He could just talk with Him alone. Oh that we might see our need of spending the time with Him alone. 

The Breaking of Bread. A beautiful time of remembering Christ sacrificing His body and His blood so that we might be redeemed. Our group pride's itself that we do it on the first day of the week, every week. But I noticed, "day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes..." It was done every day in their homes. I don't know of anyone anywhere that is doing that. Were we to do it that way, wouldn't there be a change in our lives? Wouldn't there be more fellowship as we would be hosting people in our homes, remembering the Lord? We would definitely be talking about Him! And with so much daily emphasis on Him wouldn't there be a difference in us? Wouldn't the people around us notice the difference? Would our neighbours become interested in what's going on in our lives and see the difference Christ makes?

As I write this I am greatly challenging myself. I need to change in so many ways. I am asking, Father, change me to make me pleasing to You in all ways. Not for my sake but so that You may be praised and receive all glory.