43 Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.
44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.
45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need.
How is your church doing at being the church? The first church formed after Christ's ascension and the miracle of Pentecost had some distinct features. There were many wonders and signs, believers had all things in common, everyone sold everything they owned and shared all things equally. You also see, from verse 46, about their devotion to each other with a joyful and humble attitude. And lastly, in verse 47, about their praise of God and their favor among all the people. So, I will ask the question again. How is your church doing at being the church?
Does the church today have to look just like the first church in order to be authentic? No, it doesn't. There were many cultural and social reasons why the first church sold all their possessions and shared everything equally. Those early church members lived in a time that constituted a need to share everything in order to survive. If you forsook Judaism for a belief in Christ you were cut off from your family, you were castigated by society, and forced into a life of having to depend on each other to survive. Hence the need to share everything.
I am not promoting a physical selling off of everything, but we should think about the type of love we have for each other. In many cases, our church members don't know much about each other's circumstances. We see each other on Sunday and sometimes on Wednesday night, but the closest we get to knowing about each other is the, "Hi, how you doing", greeting we use when we meet. Of course that is followed by the standard "I'm fine, how are you?" It's simply courteous to ask the question and even more courteous not to give an answer.
Oh, I'm not saying we don't know some things about each other. Like the big items, cancer or diabetes or death, but we share those things because we are afraid not to. After all, prayer works wonders.
But, very seldom do we know when one of our church family's refrigerator is empty, or when someone is dealing with depression, or if there is a need by an elderly person for a light bulb to be changed, or they just need someone to talk to because they have no one in their lives to share with.
We need to address these things. The Bible says the world will know who Jesus is by the way we interact with one another.
22 I have given them the glory You have given Me. May they be one as We are one.
In order for our churches to be the true church and not just as a social gathering there are some things we must accomplish together. One of the big things is to GO and make disciples! Another is to have a tremendous devotion and love each other.
individual Christians, the only way the church can be the church is for each of us to be what God expects us to be. Take some time and ask yourself, do my actions show that I care for my fellow church members? Can the world see that Jesus is alive by the way I treat my church family? If so, praise God. If not, repent and ask God for forgiveness and start new today.