The Modern Church

I’m a Christian, and I take what the Bible says to heart. For those of you who know me, this comes as no surprise. For those of you who don’t, good to meet you, and welcome to my blog.

That being said…

32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. 36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.

Acts 5: 32-37

A friend of mine (and Bethel University Seminary student) brought this passage to my attention the other day. A group of us have been discussing it at length via email, and it has me all fired up. We all know what will inevitably ensue.

I am blogger, hear me roar.

The implications of this passage are undeniable when applied to the modern church, which falls horribly short when stacked up against the apostles’ original intention for a church community.

We should absolutely be shaping the modern church in accordance with the Biblical church, yet it would be ludicrous to believe that the modern church is anything like the description given in acts. “There were no needy persons among them.” It’s laughable. Or maybe it’s just a matter of perspective. Perhaps the modern mega-church doesn’t want anybody to be “needy” of a better sound system, so they buy the best one possible. Maybe they don’t want anybody to be “needy” for comfort, so they buy padded pews and state of the art air conditioners. At least none of their well-off brethren will be “needy.”

Maybe you couldn’t tell (sarcasm doesn’t work well in writing), but I was being facetious. Sure a lot of church-goers tithe, but very few would be willing to share everything they had to make sure nobody was truly needy.

My favorite statement from this passage is: “32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.” Can you imagine what that would look like? Can you imagine having that mentality? Unfortunately, it’s been lost. Even amongst the most generous givers, there is an undercurrent of “What’s God’s is God’s…but what’s mine is mine.”

“No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own.” Really let that sink in. I’ll be honest, it makes me uncomfortable. I like my possessions. I’m attached to them. I feel that I need them.

There are millions upon millions of people throughout the world that are truly needy, needy of water and food and love, the necessities of life, and the church has failed them.

How come?

It’s because of me and people like me. It’s because we’re greedy, we’re selfish and we’re self-involved. It’s the American way (and a nasty side effect of being fallen). In some ways I blame capitalism. It has engrained in us this idea that in order to survive we must scratch and claw and climb over others to get to the top. It brings out the worst of our competitive spirit and pits us against one another, as opposed to working together towards a greater good.

It’s also the fault of the church. Somewhere down the line the church quit being a community of believers caring for each other and turned into a political tool, a means of acquiring power. And the needy that the church was called to care for, those who had nothing to offer, were forgotten.

I can sense an exciting new movement amongst Evangelicals; a movement that aims to correct this failure. There is an energy that has caused large groups of people to spontaneously mobilize towards the same goal. This group no longer accepts what the church tells them or what the government tells them at face value. They look to the Bible for guidance. They look to the words of Jesus, the stuff highlighted in red because Jesus actually said it. It’s remarkable to see the things Jesus stood for.

I challenge you all to think about joining this movement. I don’t mean that everyone should run off and join a commune, but make deliberate efforts to better the world in the spirit of following Christ. I mean love someone for no reason, sacrifice something you think you need for someone who really needs, realize that our daily problems are profoundly insignificant when compared to the problems of the world. See that we each have a part to play, and no one said it would be painless.

Thanks for reading.