the other week, i was sitting in church and thinking, "is this what church is really supposed to be like?" i mean, it's good... but it's not great. (as usual, my observation comes not only from my present situation, but from all my experiences. read: it's not just this church)
in the book of acts, the church had a reputation (a good reputation). people joined not only because they recieved a life-changing message of hope, but they were also joining because they saw something they wanted to be a part of. we've all heard this before: people should see Christ shining through you and come ask what's so different about you, etc, etc... but we grossly miss the point. we think walking around with a smile on your face the whole day long will make people come talk to you, that whistling while you work will save somebody's soul. my experience shows that no one will see you walking with your smile because no body likes to make eye contact and people will probably beat you up for being annoying if you continue to whilstle incessantly ("dude, they asked you to stop." "oh they just need the love of Jesus, i'll whistle louder!" "they're going to hit you if you don't stop" "blessed are you if you're persecuted for righteousness, right?" ...POW!) you're not a saint, you're just a jerk who wouldn't stop whistling.
facetiousness aside, the early Church was magnetic, because of the community that they shared, not the actions they performed. true, they did stuff, but the motives behind their actions were to communally share life with all of God's children. they got together daily to enjoy eachother's company (crazy talk, i know) they sang together, prayed together, studied together and ate together. they "held all things in common," sharing all that they had and selling what they couldn't share so they could share the money they made. it says they went to worship together and ate together and by doing BOTH of these things they received their food with glad and generous hearts ('man does not live on bread alone, but on every Word that flows from God's mouth [matthew 4:4]' - Jesus, the Bread of Life). and THEN it says, they were held in favor by all people, and God added to their numbers every day. [acts 2:42-47]
when they started a 'program' it was for the sake of those whom they were serving, not for the glory of the congregation. in chapter six it says they realized some people were being overlooked in the DAILY distribution of resources, so to make sure they serves all those who needed served, they appointed seven people to head up their 'feeding program' so the apostles could continue to teach, because all gifts are equally important inside the Church. they didn't stop teaching to start "serving tables," but they didn't give up feeding people either because they thought teaching was more important. they made sure there was a place for every gift of the Spirit (teaching, preaching, feeding, administrating, prophesying, hospitality, prayer, etc.)
and this, finally, is what i think we're missing so much of today. our church services are full of teaching and preaching. the sermon is the crux of the sunday service, it's hard for most of us to imagine going without one. and then our weeks are filled with Bible studies, one for this group, one for that group, etc. don't get me wrong now, these things are good. but somewhere somebody decided that the gifts of preching and teaching trumped all others and should be given special attention. (granted in 1 corinthians 12, paul puts a few of the gifts in an order of significance, but his intended goal was only to show that speaking in tongues was not the most desirable of these gifts. but even so, the first on the list are apostles (which is most commonly accepted to mean a missionary who 'charts new land,' an ambassador for the Gospel, in other words) and then he puts prophets second, and teaching doesn't even come until third.) teaching and preaching are important. after all, we need to make sure that everyone is on the same page as far as what is necessary for salvation and what is purely preferential doctrine (what much of the new testament is about), new Christians need to know all about their new faith, and it's always cool to learn something new about the greek words used, but we mostly decide to forget about all the other stuff. because mostly the other stuff all deals with really caring for others.
what if we ate a meal together every sunday? what if it was home-made? what if intentially, willingly spent time together every day? what if we shared a meal everyday? what if we helped each other pay our rents when times were tough? what if we shared a rent or a house payment because we shared a house? what if our church 'family' was really a family; really a group of people we felt deeply connected to? would others want what you have then? do they want the loneliness of the rugged american individualism you have now?
the Church should be a (daily) celebration of togetherness. a celebration of our common roots (redemption from sin) our common lives (humbly walking with our God) and our common futures (eternal Communion). what are we doing to achieve this? where is our desire to achieve this?
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