I have a favor to ask, but some of you may not like it too much.
Can we please stop pretending that the New Testament Church was this amazing organism that functioned properly and healthily?
I mean, really...I can't begin to keep track of the number of times I've heard a rant about the modern church quickly followed by, "We just need to get back to the way the New Testament Church was."
Verses such as Acts 2:42-47 get whipped out as evidence of community and mutual love and respect and growth.
But here's the thing...
Acts 2:42-47 happened immediately after a mountain-top experience during Pentacost.
Imagine standing there with multitudes of people, gathered because of a loud raucous-y wind that was none other than the Holy Spirit descending on mere man. As the crowd grows, a man stands up, and you hear preaching in your own language, even though you are a foreigner. Through Peter's compelling message, you turn your heart toward God.
What happens next?
You come home from the gathering (i.e. the summer camp, the women's retreat, whatever it may be) and you start living in a way that is honoring and worthy of God.
And then what?
Then, the high wears off... And the body of Christ stops relying on God and begins to return to their own ways.
It's all over the New Testament, guys.
I was just reading 1 Corinthians today, so here's a perfect example.
1 Corinthians 11:17-19 "In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval."
Still sounding functional and healthy? Not so much. (For more dysfunction, check out these verses.)
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we should be happy to live in disunity and such. Quite the contrary, I agree with Paul when he urges us to keep after the prize.
I think passages like Acts 2:42-47 are great encouragers to remind us of what we are called to. Other passages are throughout the New Testament also.
So, please, let's keep pressing on and being faithful to God, but let's not pretend our humanity is some new problem that the New Testament believers didn't fall prey to, also.
WOW! Very well said... And so true... I had heard a sermon about this a couple of years ago but thruthfully Sarah, I think you said it better!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I would love to email with you in re: to homeschool... I don't have your address. it could be on your page, but i was so busy reading your post I didn't see it!
Here is mine- rainydayinmay@gmail.com
Great post the old way wasn't really working in the first place and so we become disillusioned.. I am happy I am not the only one who thinks this way.
ReplyDeleteNate,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment.
I'm not sure I'd say the old way wasn't working. I think I'd say more that regardless of whether we're in the New Testament or present day, no one has truly followed the way. So, glorifying the NT church is a lame cop-out.
Mincing words, perhaps, but that's my clarification. :)
SO true! And something that I so needed to hear! Being in youth ministry it seems that we deal in nothing but mountain top experiences followed by watching our beloved kids sway to the ways of the world. Their struggle may be more obvious to me but it is not any more pronounced than my struggle or the struggle in that church. Preach on, sister!
ReplyDeleteGood call. The question remains though: Pentecost was the mountaintop, Acts 2:42-47 was the post-mountain. Yet you see that continued to be lived out a couple of chapters later (which I guess could have been mere days).
ReplyDeleteI think the pattern (Acts 2) is solid. It is the application of the pattern that is not always fleshed out, either today or then. I think our depravity (screwed-up-ness) explains the struggle and perhaps the reality. Another excellent explanation might be laziness. I'm often too lazy to do what I need/should.
Trey,
ReplyDeleteYou have a good point about the couple chapters later thing. I think the passage you're talking about is Acts 4:32-37.
So, of course, looking at the next verses, only goes to show that not EVERYONE was down with the sharing everything, even when it was a strong ethic of the Church at large.