After the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two we find the church functioning in a pretty simple "modus operandi." Acts 2:42 tells us they:
a. "continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine," which I take to mean that they had both a love and a hunger for the Word that was coming from God. It is called the "apostle's doctrine" because they did not yet have the full revelation of the New Covenant written down as we do today. They had the privilege of hearing it from the mouth of the apostles even as it was flowing from the throne of God. No wonder they "continued" in it.
b. "fellowship," which says to me that not only did the tongues of fire that lit upon each of them in that upper room drive them into the streets, it also welded them together in a Holy Ghost induced sense of "fellowship" that they were in the place where they needed to be together for meaningful fellowship in the Spirit of God as often as possible. They didn't just have an occasional church supper - they fellowshipped upon the anvil upon which Jesus was hammering out His church as well as in the fires of adversity and persecution.
c. "breaking of bread," means that they often "discerned the body of Christ" through the celebration of the Lord's Supper often - never getting too far beyond the message of the Cross, never losing sight of the awful price that was paid for their sins and the wonderful promises that were seen in that incredible spiritual rite.
d. "and in prayers:" Though listed last, prayer was certainly not the least of their priorities. The first miracle of Pentecost occurred as Peter and John made their way to the temple "at the hour of prayer." It would appear that they made prayer a vital part of their daily walk with Yeshua. They didn't attend pray sporadically or situationally - prayer was a regular, planned, strategic part of their lives together.
Is it any wonder their daily lives were marked by "signs and wonders done at the hands of the apostles" and that many, many thousands were coming to Christ as the Lord "added daily to the church such as should be saved. Ah yes, as difficult as it might have been as they faced the wrath of Rome and Religion - it really was pretty simple.
As much as believe that the four "elements" of early church life demonstrated in Acts 2 need to be an intricate part of church life today and if we could in fact "simplify" our corporate spiritual life, distilling it down to those four issues, (a love for God's Word, a love for the brethren, a daily cognizance of the gospel message, and our absolute need for dependence upon God) and little else- we must recognize that the passage of time has drawn the church far, far away from this pristine ideal.
I was in a luncheon meeting today with an old friend and a new friend. We were discussing issues of the church and I was asked this question (or maybe I engineered an opportunity to answer a question that really wasn't asked but that I wanted to answer anyway, I'm not sure). What are the major issues pressing the church today?
I have three. They may not be the same issues you would identify but they are I believe they are critical issues facing the Body of Christ. I have taught on these matters extensively both here in the U.S. and abroad. I'm just going to list mine and will happily invite any contrasting viewpoints.
1. The RESTORATION OF THE HOME as the spiritual center of the Kingdom. The church house is not that around which the Kingdom revolves. The HOME is the center of the Kingdom. It is the home which is the model of the Kingdom, it is the Christian HOME that reveals the Kingdom to a watching world - and it is the destruction of the HOME which has been the most successful strategy of the enemy of the Kingdom of God. At some unknown moment some unknown person or persons decided that if we built strong churches the result would be strong homes. The exact opposite has proven to be true. We live in the generation of the MegaChurch which has become the center of life for most believers (and even those of us who don't belong to MegaChurches) while the family has waned and weakened right before our eyes. The enemy realized what we did not - if the home is not strong, then the church cannot be strong.
It is in the HOME that children need to learn the principles of the Kingdom. As a nation we relinquished the responsibility for educating our children to the Public Education System and the result has been catastrophic. As Christians we have relinquished the primary responsibility of spiritual education to the church and the result has been equally catastrophic as generation after generation have abandoned the church for the world.
2. The RESTORATION of Fathers as the spiritual center of the HOME. As the family has disintegrated Fathers have either willingly or been forced to abdicate their role as the Priest of their home. We have turned the responsibility over the Pastor's and Bishops and the model of the Kingdom has been violated to an even greater degree. The scriptures are clear, Fathers are charged with the responsibility of teaching their children to honor God. Psalm 78:1-7 declares: "Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
While the church can assist by training the parents and providing resource and encouragement it is a SIN to completely entrust the spiritual upbringing of our children to any institution. Beyond being sinful it is ineffective as recent generations have proven. Dad's and Mom's are to be the primary source of spiritual life for their children. Until this condition is restored in the Body of Christ we can expect ton continue to lose more generations from the church.
3. The RE-ESTABLISHMENT of the personal responsibility of each believing individual to study the Word of God for himself and to be able to "rightly divide the Word of Truth" (2 Timothy 2;15). Men cannot live off of left-overs and previously eaten food. If the only spiritual nourishment you are taking is the Pastor's sermon on Sunday Morning and the Hourly Offering appeals from Christian TV, then you are starving to death spiritually.
It is the responsibility of the church to equip its people to read, study, divide, analyze, and implement the Living Word of God for themselves, coming to the place where they no longer require a teacher other than the Holy Spirit to nourish themselves spiritually. If this condition were to be realized, marital counseling would be a dead art among the members of the Body of Christ because husbands and wives would be able to sit down at the kitchen table with the Word of God and counsel themselves to a healthy marriage.
If this ideal was to be realized we would never again worry about some lying cult sneaking in and stealing saints from the body because each saint would be well armed with the Sword of the Spirit and well trained in how to effectively use it. They would be able to teach their children and their grandchildren the timeless truths of the scripture. And, the church could be about the business of pulling down spiritual strongholds and doing violence to the Kingdom of Hell because it would be released from the ministry of damage control.
Well, those are my three pressing issues. I am committed to teaching these principles wherever and whenever I get the chance. My question to you is this: Have you identified critical issues that face the church and will you commit to confronting and correcting those things, or will we just sigh, and go to church on Sunday?
Blessings.
1 comments:
Hi Pastor Mike,
I just read your blog and checked out your last month’s post. The topic made me ponder the question which was quite interesting. Everyone who is asked that question will probably answer something else because the church is not perfect of course and needs to grow constantly. I enjoyed reading this blog very much and your points which are very valid and needed. In connection to your church praying for signs and wonders, I have been thinking about that a lot and if I had to pick one challenge the church is facing today, I would say that it is the lack of power.
The verse in I Thess 1:5 says that the gospel “came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.” Then there should be a balance between the word, the lifestyle and the power. However, even though we all need to keep working on all three areas, the knowledge of the word and even lifestyle is much greater than the power element which is almost nonexistent. That is, they are not growing equally. We know that the disciples moved in the power of the Holy Spirit and they not only prophesied, interpreted tongues and had visions but they evangelized, healed many diseases and cast out demons. We should not be any different. Yes, there are ministers today who move in signs and wonders but they are only a small drop in the sea of Christians. I think many people just don’t realize that they can move in kingdom power. Yet, the same spirit that was in Jesus is in us and therefore we should be able to do just as he did. How much more could the church do if all born-again Christians moved in the gifts of the Spirit! I think that people know this in theory but they don’t believe that God would choose them and do miracles through them so we don’t do anything about it. Meanwhile, I believe God is waiting for someone who is willing to be used. God would be delighted to use anyone to do His will on earth - anyone who is willing. However that requires our desire to be used and going out of our comfort zone. We are supposed to go out and witness to people, instead of waiting for them to come to our churches. In order to be used by God to heal someone, we must first lay hands on the sick and pray for them no matter how unlikely we think that condition will be healed; in order to plant seeds, we must share the gospel; in order to cast out demons, we must pray for deliverance. Again, doing these things is often uncomfortable and we might not feel qualified, but God will honor our willingness and with perseverance he will pour His anointing over us. The gospel is very powerful but we are making it look powerless.
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