The late church
Compare & contrast
The Bible is pretty straightforward about the most important command Christians have in regard to one another. It sounds so simple:
Love one another.
And yet it doesn’t seem so simple, perhaps. Where can we go for practical instruction on how to do this right?
I think a good place to start might just be the very first church.
It perhaps is a bit presumptuous to assume that we are in the “later” days of the church age — the church age being defined as the period between Christ’s ascension and His return. But… aren’t there an awful lot of signals that we’re getting closer?
So for my purposes here, I’m going to call us — Christians on the earth today — the “late church”… as opposed to the early church, the first believers described in the book of Acts.
How are we doing compared to our brethren of 2000 years ago? It’s a topic worth considering, since their example shines brightly for us.
They lived in an upside-down culture characterized by sin, idolatry, despair, pride, hatred, division, and societal expectations completely at odds with Jesus’ teaching. Sound familiar?
But they had it far worse than most of us in the Western world today. Thus far our culture hasn’t quite devolved into killing humans for entertainment on a regular basis.
Meet your oldest brothers and sisters
The very first report we have resulted from the Day of Pentecost, when 3,000 souls joined God’s family in Jerusalem:
And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. — Acts 2:42
“They were continually” indicates this became a pattern, so let’s break down how they were devoting themselves:
They were gathering together to hear teaching. At that point, there was no New Testament – so the apostles (men who’d had personal contact with Jesus Christ) were directly sharing Christ’s teaching with His new children. The apostles were also explaining how Christ fulfilled the Old Testament, and helping the new believers understand how to imitate Him and be part of His family.
They were fellowshipping, coming together physically.
They were eating together.
They were praying together.
We no longer have apostles, but we have the books the Holy Spirit inspired them to write. Hearing that teaching is of primary importance. These days, that can happen digitally, while sitting on your sofa —but they were coming together physically. Plenty of scripture backs that up as a commandment we are to follow (Hebrews 10:24-25, Colossians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 14:26, to name a few).
How are we doing on that, Late Church? Are we still sitting on the sofa five years after Covid?
Fellowshipping — of course — is meant to be done in person.
Food for thought: Should churches stop sharing their worship services online? What are the pros and cons of continuing to make it easy for people to “do church” from home? I’m not sure of the answers, but I think the question is worth contemplating.
A couple verses later in Acts, the author expands on his description of the new believers’ day-to-day existence:
And daily devoting themselves with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart… — Acts 2:46
So they weren’t just taking Communion (which is likely what verse 42 referenced), but after meeting together in the temple, they were breaking into smaller groups and going from house to house, sharing meals (gladly!).
Praying together, the last thing on this list, could well have meant larger corporate prayer — but likely also meant smaller groups praying together. This is the only way, logistically, that thousands of people can pray together meaningfully for each other. They have to break into small groups.
How are we doing on smaller, accountable groups of fellow believers, Late Church?
Unless your church is very tiny, you need a smaller group of believers to live out these excellent examples of eating and praying together in each other’s homes, as well as digging deeper into Scripture, meeting each others’ needs, and providing/obtaining accountability.
But just because something’s called a small group doesn’t mean it is. Some churches just throw everyone into a few Sunday school classrooms each week and call it good. Others offer groups that are far too large for the kind of one-on-one accountability and care that a true small group provides.
Jesus demonstrated that a very effective size for a small group is a dozen. That’s about the right size for fellowship where we get to know and trust one another well enough to pray for each other, know each other’s needs, and literally show love for one another. And with that number, you might even be able to meet — and eat — in each other’s homes.
My friend Pastor Sam Evans says the smaller the group, the greater the growth — and some churches understand this and encourage very small discipleship groups of 2-3 individuals (same sex usually so that they can be intimately acquainted). This too is a pattern Jesus demonstrated with His “discipleship” group of just three disciples — the three He met with even more often. Those three? Peter, James and John. When you want to really accomplish something for the Kingdom, a very small discipleship group is an effective tool.
Our early brothers and sisters were easy to spot
Author Kristi McLelland notes that the early Christians were easy to spot because they refused to participate in that upside-down culture of their time:
They refused to worship the emperor or other gods — which meant they were branded as heretics because Roman emperors were to be worshipped as gods. Instead, they stood as committed followers of Jesus Christ.
How are we doing on worshipping what the world worships, Late Church? Sports, politics, celebrities – any of that too high on our priority list? Too much of our budget?
They revered life, in a culture that routinely abandoned newborn babies to die (often girls). Instead, they rescued and raised those children.
How are we doing on issues related to life, Late Church? Do we understand why it is always wrong to kill an unborn child, or do we waffle on that to be seen as more “center”? Do we support pro-life centers and causes? Do we reach out to help vulnerable young mothers, foster kids, kids who need a permanent home? Are our churches filled with families who have adopted at-risk kids? Do we speak out against societal trends that hurt young people? Do we speak out against the destruction of innocent life in any form? Are we willing to risk being jailed, as we’ve seen happen to some pro-life activists?
They ignored the ironclad stratifications of Roman society. Christians who were nobility fellowshipped and ate with Christians who were slaves.
How are we doing on true inclusiveness, Late Church? Do we ignore the boundaries that some mistakenly promote, and reach out to individuals at their point of need?
They gave generously, although many suffered significant financial loss as a result of becoming a Jesus-follower. They sold their belongings and shared so that “there was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34).
How are we doing on generosity, Late Church? Do we buy into the culture’s message that we deserve that new car, fancy vacation, remodel of a home that’s practically new, or do we want to seek to help our fellow believers? Do we see the world’s needs through God’s eyes, remembering that everything we have comes from Him, and give accordingly?
They not only lost livelihoods – they often lost their lives.
Late Church – are we willing to lose our wealth – our freedom – our lives for the Cross?
They were, and they did. Not a one of them was perfect, just like we are not perfect. But shouldn’t we all work harder at engaging with the “late world” the way they engaged with the “early world” – while we still have the time?