I believe the description of the 1st century church found in Acts 2:42-47 prescribes what the 21st century church should be like. These verses from Acts can be summed up in 15 words, as shown in the graphic to the right. Those 15 words paint a picture of the church God has firmly planted in my mind.
Imagine it with me for a moment. Imagine a church family…
- that understands, lives and is fundamentally transformed by their faith.
- totally committed to the truths revealed in Scripture.
- overwhelmed with joy in serving a living and active God.
- known for prayer, unity, boldness, sacrifice and decisions for Christ.
- experiencing healthy marriages and thriving families.
- that is overwhelmingly welcoming and unapologetically challenging.
- that is only explainable by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
To me, this is a picture of the perfect church. It is, after all, a snapshot of the church before mankind started messing with it. In fact, you don’t have to read much farther in the book of Acts to see the first signs of stress. Specifically, in chapter 5, starting with the word ‘But…’
But 15 words might even be too many. As I studied and prayed over these verses again and again, 2 words in particular stuck out to me. This church body was ‘unified’ in amazing ways and the content of their spiritual lives was remarkable in its ‘simplicity’.
Unified Simplicity.
Unparalleled unity. Very intentional simplicity. These two words sum up the picture for me. These two words sum up what I desperately want for myself, my family, my Life Group and my church.
1 comment
Terry says:
August 12, 2010 at 8:53 am (UTC -5 )
like it