Really...Are We Even Close?

The goal of the New Testament church is to follow in the footsteps and examples given to us by the first century Christians. This is or should be true of the individual Christian, their congregation and the church as a whole. That blueprint we should hope to follow is given to us in the New Testament. It's the individual Christian's responsibility and hopefully their desire to do so. When those individuals do so they form a working, growing, relevant congregation. When those congregations do so they form a church rooted in love and good works and will make an impact throughout the world. I look at how we follow some of those New Testament examples and I wonder just how close we really are to what they did.

I'm not hear to bash good works by individuals or congregations. I'm going to assume we're doing what we feel we can. I just hope we can look closer at whether we're actually doing all we can particulary when compared to the church talked about at the end of Acts 2.

I hope of course hope that we are as stated in verse 42 of this chapter continuing, "steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, the the breaking of bread, and in prayers." Congregations of faithful Christians are following that example. Of course we can always improve the amount of time we devote to fellowship and our prayer lives. What I wonder about and want to focus on here are the later verses in this chapter.

Beginning with verse 44 and continuing we read, "Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of hear, praising God and having favor with all the people..."

While we're at it, let's also read verses 32 through 35 of chapter 4. "Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need." WOW!

I'm not talking to you about this matter. I really am talking with you about it. I can't say that I've ever sold a house, taken the proceeds from the sale, given that money to my elders and told them to give it to those that had need. I'm not even going to claim that I've been a part of, "breaking bread from house to house". What about you?

Am I overanalyzing this or are we really not as close as we'd like to claim in following this example? Yes (I hope)we enjoy moments of fellowship with each other outside of our worship services. As I write this though I realize that in the five plus years my family has worshipped at our current congregation we've never had other Christians over for a meal. I look forward to changing that.

How much are we doing to make sure the needs of our fellow Christians are met? When we hear of someone in need are we willing to part with "our" money as generously as we should? Many congregations have food pantries and clothes closets. We might take up a special collection if we know of a family facing extreme financial hardships. Too often though it seems we have these assets to serve the community at large at the exclusion of those right here in our Family. Doesn't it seem to you that the church in Acts took it much further than that?

If we aren't doing enough we should have the desire to improve on our track record if for no other reason than we claim to want to follow the New Testament. However these verses not only point out our shortcomings they also tell us of great rewards for those that do try to pattern themselves after these verses.

Acts 2:47 shows the reward for really looking after each other is, "having favor with the people." Even better than that, "And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." How favorable is your congregation looked upon by the people in your community? Think about how many baptisms were conducted at your location in the last year. Were they occuring daily, weekly or even monthy? Now who is falling short, us or God?

Look at what happened to the church in 4:32 and 33. They, "were of one heart and one soul..." "And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked..." Aren't these things we should all be seeking? Paul writes in Romans 15:5 for, "...the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus..." How and when will that happen? It happens when I look out for you, you look out for me and we commit ourselves to truly being the Christians we should not only want to be but the Christians we can be. Do we have the faith to do these things? Really...are we even close?