“I’m Spiritual, But Not a Church Person…”

            What can we learn from the very first church?

            We will turn to that question this weekend (March 15th & 16th), as I conclude a three-part series on “The Nature and Purpose of the Church in the Twenty-first Century.”  Perhaps the clearest scriptural description of the very first church appears in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2: 41-47.  I believe that we can learn a great deal about how to be a Twenty-first century church from this description of the very first church in Jerusalem.           

            Throughout this series, I have stressed that vital congregations must have five healthy dimensions.  The very first church was clearly alive and active in each of these five dimensions:

1.      Worship and Praise.  Luke tells us that worship in the Temple, as well as praising God in their homes, was an integral part of the first Christians’ weekly life.

2.      Study and Prayer.  Even after we have accepted Christ through faith, becoming a faithful disciple is a lifelong project, as we grow and mature in our faith.  Thus, an integral dimension of the church is study and prayer.  In Acts, the very first Christians devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles, who were eyewitnesses to the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

3.      Service to Others.  Faithful Christians reach out to help those in need, as a natural response to God’s love for us.  In the very first church, members pooled their resources and shared them with everyone, “as any had need.”  Within the life of our church today, an important dimension is reaching out and making a real difference in the lives of those who are hungry, homeless, without healthcare, unemployed, or otherwise in need.

4.      Invitation.  We know that the early church steadily grew in new members.  Certainly, some of these new members came to faith through the preaching of Peter and the other apostles.  Yet, others must have become Christians through invitations from their friends, neighbors, or family members who had already become Christians.  So also today, an essential dimension of vital congregations is that their members are continually inviting others to discover their church.

5.      Fun and Fellowship.  The first Christians really knew how to party.  Luke tells us that they shared fellowship with one another, frequently meeting in each other’s homes for good food and friendship.  He says that they spent this time together “with glad and generous hearts.”  Similarly today, vital congregations enjoy social time with one another.  We need to be able to laugh together as well as pray together.  Even when we are serving together, there should also be moments of fun, fellowship, and celebration.

          Many of us have heard someone say, “I’m spiritual, but not a church person…”.  Others have told me, “I can feel closer to the divine by simply taking a walk on Sunday morning, rather than getting all dressed up and going to church.”  Statements like this reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be a faithful disciple of Christ.  Christianity has never been a solitary faith.  From its inception with the very first church in Jerusalem, Christianity has been all about growing in one’s faith within a community of fellow believers.  It takes a full community of disciples to create and grow disciples.

            During a Bible study this week, someone observed that they could study the Bible alone, all by themselves.  However, they continued, that they learned so much more when they studied the Bible in their small Bible study group.  We can and should read and study our Bibles by ourselves.  Yet, it is also important to complement that Bible study with group study because it is the group which can correct us, when we begin misinterpreting scripture—or, when we begin reading our own prejudices and biases into the text.  It takes a full community of believers to teach us; motivate us; and hold us accountable as disciples of Jesus Christ.

            There is so much that we can learn from the very first Church in Jerusalem.  However, we must be able to take what we learn from the first Christians and re-shape it, so that it fits with our context in the twenty-first century.  For instance, building and becoming part of a Christian community takes a great deal of time, energy, and work.  It can seem like a lot to do for people who are already super busy.  How do we create a community that genuinely feeds and energizes us, instead of simply draining us, with “one more thing to do”?  This weekend, we will be struggling with these types of questions about church.  I don’t guarantee that we will determine all of the answers, but I can guarantee that even in the quest for answers, there will be energy and empowerment.

 

Join us at Meriden United Methodist Church this weekend as we learn what the very first church has to teach us about being a vital congregation in the twenty-first century.  Our church is located at the corner of Main and Dawson Streets in Meriden, Kansas.  We have two worship services each weekend:

Ø  Our contemporary service starts at 6 pm on Saturday evenings.

Ø  Our classic service starts on at 10 am on Sunday mornings. 

Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.