This past fall, in front of the whole class, I had to disagree with one of my students. I was teaching Early Church, covering the New Testament books of Acts through Revelation. In that class session, a student remarked at how unified the early church was. It was early in the semester, so this student hadn’t read very far in the book of Acts. The student is correct based on what they had read, Acts chapters 1-4. In those chapters there are amazing descriptions of the church’s faith, love, generosity and unity. See for yourself by reading Acts 1-4. It won’t take long. When you read, pay attention to Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37.
Many contemporary Christians say that we should be more like the early church. And we should. That is, until we continue reading in Acts. In chapters 5 and 6, we learn about two significant disruptions in relationships in the church. We meet Ananias and Sapphira in chapter 5, as they lie to the apostles. Then in chapter 6, we read about an ethnic/cultural disturbance between early church members from a Hebraic background and those from a Greek background.
From there, the flood gates break open, and a near constant ebbing and flowing tide of disunity, struggle and broken relationships threaten to engulf the early church as it spreads across the Roman Empire. That is not to say that there were never again any periods of unity and love. There were, there are. But when my student commented in front of the whole class that they were amazed at the unity and love among the early church, I had to respond “I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but there is more to the story. Keep reading.”
This relational struggle is not just ancient history. It hits close to home when we think about our own denominational and local church history. No matter what kind of church you are a part of, my guess is that there have been periods of intense drama, personality conflicts, differences of opinion that led to denominational splits, local church splits, people leaving the church, pastors fired, and people behaving very poorly in many other ways.
I praise God that my own church has been experiencing a period of peace and love in our church family. Our past five or so congregational meetings have been a delight. Our Leadership Team has not had to address any matters of church discipline for a long time. But before we pat ourselves on the back, let’s remember that we are not perfect. Let’s be learners, teachable and humble in heart, desiring to improve our relationships with one another. That desire to become more like the descriptions we read about in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37 is why I’m starting a new series on Relationships in the Church.
Take a look at this article that will provide the structure for the series. This coming week we’ll talk about how to encourage one another (easy for some, difficult for others). Then we’ll continue with meeting together, holding each other accountable, praying for each other, caring for each other, speaking life into each other, studying God’s Word together, and growing in faith together.
Photo by Small Group Network on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 