Authentic Christian Community

They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47 (NKJV)

This short passage of scripture near the end of the second chapter of Acts gives us an excellent snapshot of what the "early" church looked like. Although it might be challenging, this would be a great blue-print for building a church that desires to experience authentic Christian community. What the early church was doing is not hard to understand; but, without a doubt, it would take a real commitment to both God and one another to accomplish such a lofty goal in this post-modern era.

Most of you have lived long enough to realize that in life you can not have it all. Our lives are full and we are already too busy, which means that we may simply not have enough time to become a part of an authentic Christian community. To be like the early church we would have to make our commitment in forming such a community a very high priority. Without question, other things that require our time would have to go. I would venture to say that this is where most churches fall short; authentic Christian community is not formed, because it is not a goal for those attending.

So, the question needs to be raised: "What would be the benefit of being a part of an authentic Christian community?" (Using the early church as our blue-print) In other words--what would Bible Study, Corporate Prayer, Fellowship, Eating Meals Together, Taking Care of Each Other's Needs, Corporate Worship and People Being Saved, all of it happening on a daily basis, do for us? How would your life have to change in order to be a part of such a community? It is at least something that each Believer should consider.

Prayer: "Dear Heavenly Father, confession is good for the soul, so let me start by declaring that I am too busy and that my life is too cluttered with non-essential, non-spiritual and some not too helpful expenditures of time. Lord, I want to surrender to You, and that does include my time...which is really Your time. May I use Your time and my life to bring about the purposes of Your Kingdom." Amen