Every good book describing a healthy church covers at least Acts 2:42-47 and this one is no different.
Here in Chapter 1 John Stott covers what he calls the essential marks of a living church hence the title Essentials.
On the outset he describes a 3 – fold commitment.
- We are committed to the church
- We are committed to the mission of the church
- We are committed to the reform and renewal of the church.
He then moves into discussing vision and distinguishing marks of a living church which takes us into Acts 2:42-47 with a caution against looking at the early church as a ideal model that many “idealize or romanticize” of overlooking it’s blemishes as gazing with “tinted spectacles”. Much of what troubled the church then, he points out, is what troubles us today.
Many of the emerging and neo-monastic upstarts of the past year have miserably failed trying to ‘model’ the church in Acts 2. I am glad that Stott takes the time to move in to the text to highlight some essentials, in particular 4 marks that Luke makes a point of mentioning.
- They are a learning church
- They are a caring church
- They are a worshiping church
- They are an evangelizing church
Stott spends time hitting some finer points contrasting them with current trends and ideas such as anti-intellectualism, extreme poverty, flipant worship, etc. There is a more thorough discussion as each as these 4 marks are broken down and further expounded in later chapters.
The learning church is committed to the Word. “Fidelity to the teaching of the Apostles is the first mark of an authentic and living church.”
The caring church is generous, ready to give as they have been given by God. “The Holy Spirit gives his people a tender social conscience.”
The worshipping church is devoted in breaking of bread, communion, koinonia and prayer. Stott zeros in on something I think is key. Their worship was first both formal and informal and second it was joyful and reverant. That is they did house to house with free expression, but also in the temple with formal worship that was more ridgid.
“Young people tend to be impatient with the inhereted structures of the church. Understandably so, for some churches are too conservative, too resistant to change. One might say they are stuck in the mud, and the mud has set like concrete. There favorite formula seems to be, ‘As it was in the beggining, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.’ We must of course listen to young people. But the Holy Spirit’s way with the institution of the church is more the way of patient reform than of impatient rejection… If may generalize, older people prefer the more formal and dignified services in the church, whereas youinger people prefer the more spontaneous and liberated meeting in the home. We need to experience each other’s preferences. The early church had both, and we need both.”
The first three marks is where many churches stop. They preach and apply Acts 2:42 to the best of their ability, yet they fail to recognize these are only the internal marks there is fourth external mark contained in Acts 2:47 and this is the final mark discussed in this really thought provoking chapter,
They were committed to the mission. Acts 2:47 contains 3 important truths regarding how the church grew through evangelism which seems implied in the greater context.
- The Lord added to the Church: “Doubtless he did it through the preaching of the apostles, the everyday witness of church members and their common life of love. But He did it.”
- He added to their number those being saved: “Salvation and church membership went together; they still do.”
- The Lord did both these things “daily” or day by day. “Their witness was as continuous as their worship. And the Lord honored it…
“We urgently need to return to this eager expectation. I know some churches which haven’t had a convert for ten years or more. And if they got one, they wouldn’t know what to do with him, her or it. so extraordinary would this phenomenon appear to them! But the early church anticipated the arrival of new believers, and made provision for their nurture.”
Stott notes that the four marks are really about relationships
- They were related to the Apostles
- They were related to each other
- They were related to God
- They were related to the world outside
Some churches are sitting around and waiting on a Pentecost to happen as it did at the birth of the Church.
But what we need to do is seek the fullness, the direction and the power of the Holy Spirit. The then our churches will at least come close to the essentials of a living church in apostolic doctrin, loving fellowship, joyful worship and outgoing, ongoing evangelism.
I love and soak up your spiritual thoughts, preaching. Essentially that is what you are providing. Online preaching. I’ve seaid it before and I’ll say it again. You need to pastor your own church !!!! It is obvious your passion for God’s word. Anyway I was so struck by something you posted that I thought I would comment, if you don’t mind.
The words : “We urgently need to return to this eager expectation. I some church which haven’t had a convert for ten years or more. And if they got one, they wouldn’t know what to do with him, her or it. so extraordinary would this phenomenon appear to them! But the early church anticipated the arrival of new beleivers, and made provision for their nurture.”
Struck me. We, and I say that as a mere generalization of today’s churchs’, preach God’s word but do not have a system into place to nurture, guide , build up and send out new believers. We tell them “Come to Jesus” then we pray with them, shake their hand and pat their back and send them on their way. Now, let me preface this with Christ Jesus can do anything. It is all through His power, channeled through us that we edify one another(the church) so we are an unncessary necessity for the Mission of God if you will. What about internal discipleship ? We tend to confuse this with internal “healing”. Now ,hear my heart on this one. We want the “lame, blind,widowed and orphaned ” to come to Christ through church. But do we, as a chruch (generaling again) tend to comfort , bandage and pray through one’s “valley of darkenss” only to set them on their merry way once the valley has been walked through? That is not the true misson of The Lord. We are commanded “Go ye into ALL nations” so that they may know God’s Word. I only “see” this once you stated your second part of your post about the day of Pentecost. For 120 days they “tarried” in the upperroom only because they were waiting for the Holy Spirit. Prior to this wonderful event occuring Christ had commanded that they “wait for power on high ” before going out to witness , fullfill the great commission. So is this occuring in today’s church ? Are we even seeking the power , which is already with in us, that we are commanded to do, then fulfilling tahe mission ? I believe not. In part , yes. However, today’s church is not just a “spiritual hospital ” it is to be a school for learning ,teaching and growing. And like all schools we must continue to advance to the next grade level eventually gradutating in our area of specialty and going forth.
Hope I got across the thought you were hoping to get across. I tend to skew from teh path sometimes.
Jenni
Jenni I think I am following you. Most definitely in many churches there is an assembly line type of faith or mentality. In most of these churches new converts are handed some literature and then encouraged to read the Bible, pray and come to church. The Midwest (the less urban places) is a little more behind in this, but many churches do have specific discipleship groups and home fellowship to accommodate true discipleship through kononia – simply intimate sharing together, if you will so there is much progress of recent years. Small groups and home fellowships, Stott hits on, are a solution to the problem of discipling, not to forget a great place for intimate, less formal worship.
The people of the church should be truly jazzed about their faith and sharing because they can’t contain it, but they do. Some where there faith on the sleeve, but it is nothing more than a badge of self righteousness doing more to keep the lost out than invite them in. The only remedy, sadly most evangelicals, is the power (dunamis) of the Holy Spirit and the torrents of Living Water that gush forth to the world around us.
Pentecost was a singular historical even in which 120 tarried for 7-10 days (depending on the commentators math) and the Holy Spirit descended upon them. There was the sound of a rushing mighty wind and they began praising God in other tongues. That was what was going on INSIDE, the sound spilled over to the OUTSIDE and the people who there in that divinely appointed hour heard that sound and inquired. The church was cooking before a single convert was added.
D. Martin Lloyd-Jones a wonderful, conservative preacher, not a charismatic by definition, declared that we don’t see this in today’s church because we have effectively denied the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and tossed the gifts out along with it leaving us with nothing but man’s best effort to reach the lost and disciple. Now Stott and Lloyd-Jones were contemporaries who seriously disagreed on this very point. I agree with Stott and Lloyd-Jones who agree Pentecost was a once and only event that church celebrates on the calendar. But I part with Stott and join Lloyd-Jones on the need for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the manifest gifts to empower the church to be an effective witness. What that means it outside the scope of this response, but simply to acknowledge whether one agrees with the term Baptism or not it does come down to is the Holy Spirit lighting your faith on fire! A forest only has fuel and oxygen on a day to day basis these are 2 of the 3 necessary elements to create a forest fire – it can’t become a raging forest fire and burn until external source of ignition is applied and so it is with the church.
When looking at Acts 2:42-27 one has to consider the rest of chapter 2 and include the finer points of 1-7 in particular chapter 6 which holds the key in my opinion.
Anyway thanks for commenting and the encouragement. I may be stepping out to plant a church sooner than later.
there is nothing in the world I enjoy more than learning. In fact, i’d rather be learning now!