And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (Acts 2:47)
A great temptation we face in churches and the ministries within them is to seek to imitate what we deem to be spiritual Life. We have a picture in mind of what a Spirit-filled church looks like and so we set about trying to imitate it.
With a mindset such as this, we tend to read the book of Acts as a blueprint of what we are to do instead of a description of how Jesus builds His church.
The passage at hand illustrates the point well. In verses 43-46, we read “A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshipped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity.”
It is an inspiring picture. Who wouldn’t want to lead a church or a ministry like this?! There are miraculous signs and wonders, a sharing of all possessions and wealth, along with a rich community life and great joy.
We meet together and strategise how to make this happen, planning healing services, love offerings and “life” groups with high levels of commitment and participation.
Yet in all our activity we fail to recognise this: that verses such as the ones above describe an outpouring of what God does in people’s hearts, rather than something we are to mimic. In other words, the things described were not things the early church set out to do, but things they found God doing through them.
Awe “came over them” – they did not set out to cultivate awe. The apostles performed miracles – but they would be the first to say that it was God performing miracles through them. They sold and shared – but again, the implication is that generosity arose out of the work of the Spirit in their hearts. Finally, they were filled with joy – not something they tried to generate, but a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
Spiritual Life in our churches is an outpouring of God’s grace. It is not something we set out to mimic or construct through our own clever efforts and plans.
If then, true church Life is something God does among us, what then are we to do? Simply sit around and wait for it to happen?
Not at all! Verse 42 shows us what our part is: “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper, and to prayer.”
Before getting into detail, the point to note here is that what occurs in verse 42 is a communal exercise. Luke is not describing what each individual believer did, but what the body of believers did as a whole. This should be obvious but in our culture of individuality where church can be “experienced” at home alone on a screen, it is a point that needs to be stressed. All the believers together engaged in four critical practices central to a church that God imparts Life into and through.
Next, we note that there is nothing spectacular about any of these four things. They were, and should be today, the bread and butter of church life. Again, we must avoid the temptation to make what we do exciting, entertaining or extravagant and just stick to these “basics”.
We see firstly that the apostles “devoted themselves” to the apostles' teaching. The Word of God was central to the life of the church and its ministries and we learn here that the believers did more than just listen to what was said, or even study it. Instead, they devoted themselves to doing what was taught. Simple obedience to the Word of God is paramount if we are to see God at Work amongst us.
Next, the believers engaged in fellowship which was more than fun and refreshments. The Greek word here koinonia carries the meaning of intimacy, participation together and practical assistance.
They also worshipped together, sharing in the Lord’s Supper which was first and foremost a time of remembrance of Jesus – who He was and what He had done for them (Luke 22:19–20).
Finally, we read that prayer was a vital part of church life. The church began in a prayer meeting on the Day of Pentecost and continued to grow as the church continued to devote themselves to prayer.
As the believers gathered together and faithfully engaged in these four practices, they saw God at work, pouring out His Spirit, and “adding daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42).
Revival and renewal in the church occurs through an act of God – not by creating something that looks like revival, but by humbly devoting ourselves to “the basics”.
Reflection and discussion
Reflect on those occasions over the past year when you have witnessed signs of spiritual life and vitality in your church or ministry. What has been God’s role in this? What has been your role as leaders?
How fully does your church or ministry engage in the four critical practices? Which of them do you most need to focus on improving?
How fully do you personally engage in the four critical practices? Which of them do you most need to focus on improving?
Interestingly, there is no mention of the believers sharing their faith with others in these verses, yet we read that “Each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved? “ What lessons might we draw from this?
Application
What does your team need to do to more fully apply the four critical practices to your church or ministry?