Here's the rub: Are we walking the walk or just talking the talk? If it's the latter, that's "look-good" Christianity. That's not what God has called us to do.
This is probably the biggest struggle we Christians have. We can do 99 things right, but the ONE thing we flub, that's what is noticed by the unbelieving world.
As Chapter 2 of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles draws to a close, the Evangelist Luke gives us a word picture snap-shot of the day-to-day life of the new Christian believers in Jerusalem. This snapshot provides every believer with how we should be conducting our lives, becoming a natural attraction to the unbelieving world. Let's look at how we ought to live using verses 42 through 47 as a guide.
Acts 2:42 - 47 reads: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
The early Christians practiced 3 general "walks." They were Devoted. They Gave. And they Praised (worshiped).
Devotion is a must. Whatever we do, we had better be devoted to it. Devotion is, or at least should, be an all-or-nothing proposition. Whether it's to a person (our spouse or children), a cause, or our work. We should be wanting to give our all. In this case of Acts chapter 2, the believers were devoted not only to God and what He had done, but also to the Apostles (God's earthly teachers), their teaching, and prayer.
I think we can read between the lines and say that the people loved and cared for the Apostles. The people realized that the Apostles had been taught by God Himself in the person of Jesus. By being devoted to the teaching of the Apostles, they willingly put themselves under the authority of the Twelve. Their new lives were completely dependent upon God's Word (Old Testament plus the oral teachings of Jesus as the Gospels hadn't yet been written) as their complete sustenance. The Apostles taught them how to pray, not as the "learned" priests, scribes, and Pharisees, but as people utterly dependent upon God; praying in Spirit and in Truth.
There is a difference between "knowing about" God and "knowing" God. The former is usually learned through books, sermons, videos, and anything else you can think of that is "about" the Bible. There's nothing wrong with these tools in and of themselves, but it's not the same. To know God, you have to know His Word - the Bible - and be in it by reading it on a daily and regular basis. How do you "know" someone if you only read or listen to snippets or hearsay? You get to know someone by spending time with them; significant time.
We Christians receive a lot of blame (some of it rightly so) for certain persecutions or bad times over the centuries. But what about all of the good that the Christian Church has done? What about the institutions of higher learning and hospitals? What about the ending of slavery in the Western world? All of those things were promoted and promulgated by Christians.
We are devoted to our Savior and desire to share the same gifts He has shared with us. We devote our lives to Him and to those He has placed over us as our pastors, priests, and teachers. As long as Christ is first, there is nothing wrong with devoting yourself to another person.
Not only were they devoted to the Apostles, but they also devoted themselves to one another. They met regularly together to pray and for fellowship. They encouraged one another. Let's face it, these people were most likely looked upon as being "weird"; kind of how the world perceives Christian believers even today. Peter perhaps put it best by calling us "peculiar" (1 Peter 2:9, KJV); yes we are.
In giving, the believers gave. They gave to anyone. They gave to one another first, then to the neighborhoods around them. When God placed a need in their midst, they gave to provide for that need. This type of giving must have seemed extraordinary. Many years ago, I served as the financial secretary of our church. To say that it was a humbling experience is an understatement, and that's all that I will say.
Even today, whenever there is an emergency at home or abroad; natural or man-made, Christians GIVE. And it's not just money. It's a giving of time, effort, and love for our fellow man no matter what the circumstances are. Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States in August of 2005. My home church and many others are still sending in volunteers to help with restoring life years after the government has left. We see doctors giving their lives to minister to Muslims in Afghanistan; these people would otherwise not have special medical care. Teachers are going into the war-torn areas of the world providing education which then provides hope to hundreds and thousands of illiterate people. Giving is one of the attributes of Grace and Grace is something that separates Christians from unbelievers.
Finally, these Acts chapter 2 Christians praised God. I have to believe that praising God was part of their everyday speech. These believers wore God on their sleeves. They were supremely grateful for what He had done in their lives, and they wanted to share it with everyone. Is that how we live our lives? Are we so thankful for all that God has done in our lives that we want to shout it from the rooftops for all the world to hear and see? Or do we allow the world to smother our Joy and remain silent?
I have known, like you, good times and bad; times of ease as well as times of hardship. In those "easy" times, I tend to "forget" about God and His provision. I put myself on cruise control and go about my life. But when the going gets tough, I run out to find my Savior. He wants me with Him at all times, not just in the fiery furnace (when I "need" Him), but every day.
I remember once telling a pastor friend of mine about a very difficult financial situation. What did he tell me to do aside from praying? "Praise Him first and present an offering. Thank Him for ALL that you have." I did. The situation didn't magically go away, but my attitude changed and God brought me through the difficulty with His grace, and perhaps some unbelievers noticed.
And I am to praise Him for everything. I enter His gates with a thankful heart and voice.
Here's the result of this "Christian activity."
The world around us is actively searching for Hope and Love and Grace. God has called each one of us to Praise HIM and give Glory to Him and to point others to Him. God wants us to be fragrant and attractive to the world around us. All of us are called to be extensions of Christ in a sinful and weary world. And in that way, God brings the lost to Himself and saves them. Adding "to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2: 47.
In Richard Pratt's book, "Every Thought Captive," he begins with the understanding that as we believers present a defense of the Gospel, it is God's Word that we are defending AND that we USE God's Word as our primary defense. Nothing else. God's Word must be the foundation of our "apologia;" just like those first, early believers. They may not have had the Bible as we do now, but they had the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. They also had the Holy Spirit living in them and guiding them to remember the Words of Jesus.
May we follow well in their footsteps.
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