Thanksgiving Post: Selfishness is Faithlessness

“That’s not fair” has become my three year old son’s favorite phrase.  He undoubtedly learned the saying from his older brother, who probably learned it from a peer.  While he learned the phrase from another, his desire to stand up for his rights was developed all by himself.  It is both comical and disheartening to watch my children fight diligently to make sure they don’t get “the short end of the stick.” 

I can’t really throw stones, can I?  My self advocacy might not be as obvious, but it is no less prevalent.  We’re all guilty of it, aren't we?  I've seen the most literal of Sola Scriptura Christians easily and quickly dismiss the example of the church of Acts in chapter 2 with a “why would I give away my stuff, I earned it!’  We are a selfish people living in a selfish world.  It might be why the majority of “givers” in our church tithe (and I use that word WAY to loosely) less than one percent. 

Why do we struggle so much with this?  Why are we so selfish?  Is it just because we are so wicked?  I propose that this is not the case (and yes, I know all about the doctrine of original sin).  We can go into the ridiculous lifestyles we live and our insane idea of what our needs are (most of which are actually wants) and we can rebuttal that our less selfish ancestors were more generous because “back in the day” able bodied workers making a living was almost a guarantee. 

And that gets to the heart of it doesn't it.  Greed is about looking out for me, because I don’t have faith (or trust) that my needs will be met otherwise.  The implications are huge; I am selfish because I don’t trust God.  My three year old son is obsessed with making sure he gets a fair shake because he thinks (in part) that he will not be taken care of otherwise.  What a crappy thing to learn and such a young age!

This is what makes the Thanksgiving holiday (and more importantly, a spirit/heart of thanksgiving) so important.  Thanksgiving helps us spend time reflecting on God's faithfulness allowing us to place our trust in Him and acknowledge His faithfulness.  If I truly trust in God and believe that He is faithful than I don’t need to fight for myself, I don’t need to be greedy, and I don’t need to worry about things “being fair.”  So during this season of Thanksgiving let us take seriously the task of helping our children and the young people of our church reflect on God’s faithfulness revealed in their past so that they can gain perspective and learn to trust in Him.

Church as Department Store

Consuming the Church...

I am seeing more and more that individuals are approaching church from a consumerist perspective.  I hear phrases like “What I need from a Church...” and “When I was Church shopping...”  Now I have heard this phrase from some amazing people.  People devoted to service and to this church.  They just don’t realize what they are doing...comparing God’s church to a pair of jeans.  Even the last few Sundays’ attendance speaks to this idea.  Pastor has been on vacation so many congregants have opted to miss church.  So then, worship is about hearing a phenomenal message from the pastor, instead of a mediocre message from that other person.  Is this what it means to be part of a Church?  Is it nothing more than a support group, or glorified country club? 

It’s my belief that these conceptions are, in reality misconceptions.  I believe that God expects something more from and for His Church and today’s scripture lesson supports that belief. 

The Church of Acts

Acts 2:42-47 is packed full with functions of the first Christian Church, but is being an ACTS 2 church as straight forward as that?  After all, many if not most American churches mimic much or all of the church functions described in this passage.  But let’s take a closer look.

Acts 2:42

·       It was a Learning Church: Christian Education – Apostles Teaching

·       It was a Church of Fellowship

·       It was a Church that broke bread together, Sharing of Meals and the Lord’s Supper

·       It was a Church of Prayer

Acts 2:43-

·       It was a reverent Church; they had a since of Awe over what God was doing. 

·       It was a Church where things happened; they witnessed miraculous signs and wonders performed by the Apostles.  Ya know, Jesus indicated on multiple occasions during his ministry on earth that the miracles he performed were due in part to the faith of the recipient.  I wonder if we could see signs and wonders today if we had more faith, and a since of Awe over what God is doing and has already done.  I wonder if we have already seen signs and wonders and have not even recognized them because we were too busy, or too quick to explain them away.

Acts 2:44&45 –

·       It was a Sharing Church.  Those who had access shared with those who were struggling to provide for themselves.  I have witnessed this and it is such an amazing thing to see

Acts 2:46 -

·       It was a worshiping Church

·       It was a happy Church

Acts 2:47-

·       It was a church of people whom others could not help liking. It is clear that the Church was visible, that those who were not a part of the church were aware of and even impacted by what the Church did.

·       The Result: The Lord worked through what the Church was doing to add new believers every day. 

It’s natural when we look at the first Christian Church to hone in on the regular public practices of the Church but in doing so we miss a lot about what this passage has to say about the Church.  As I alluded to before, there are many churches that are doing these regular public practices without the miraculous results.

For this reason, I want to begin with the result of what the Church was doing; The Lord was adding new believers daily! 

Why and how was the Lord adding to their numbers daily?

Was it because of the functions of the church?

Was it because it was learning, praying church of fellowship that broke bread together?  Was it because it was a reverent, sharing, worshiping church?

Certainly all these reasons were in part why God was moving in such a powerful way through this church but they don’t seem to guarantee the miraculous results.  There was something more going on than that.  So, I am going to focus in on one of the characteristics of the church of Acts that was not a function of the church and I believe the one characteristic that gets the least attention.  This church was a church of people whom others liked and were drawn to. 

What does that mean?  What does that look like?  Well I think it was a church of people that could not go unnoticed by the community around them because of their positive uniqueness.  It was a group of people who were living examples of the good news of Christ. 

Now we need to pause here a second, there are plenty of churches today who cannot go unnoticed, but for all the wrong reasons, right? As a result these churches are not liked, and sometimes even detested by those looking into their community from the outside.  It’s sad isn’t it, when the gospel is reduced to a scare tactic or a message of hate. 

But that is clearly not what is going on here.  Rather, living the gospel means that this group of people and the church they made up were so radically different from the culture’s status quo that the people outside of the movement couldn’t  help but notice what was going on and be drawn to it.    

There are several examples in the history of the Christian church of followers who fit this description:

Celtic Missionaries

One such group was missionaries led by St. Patrick who brought the gospel of Christ to the Celtic world in the 5^th Century A.D.  These missionaries created communities similar to monastic communities, that is communities of Christian monks.  The difference was that these communities were not for the primary purpose of deepening ones spiritual disciplines, like the communities of monks, but rather were for the primary purpose of evangelism.  These communities were formed within a village rather than in some secluded place and were constantly welcoming the surrounding village to come and witness what was going on.  The community was visible and available to the village thus making the gospel real to them.  

Wesley’s Societies

For those who have studied John Wesley and his societies you might be thinking that there are some similarities between the Celtic evangelists’ communities and Wesley’s societies, and you’d be right.  To be sure, Wesley had high demands on those who were part of his societies, but there were no initial restrictions or exclusions for those who wanted to experience and join the societies. 

Wesley was so convinced of the transforming power of experiencing the societies that he even went to far as to offer communion to non-Christians.  Wesley believed that the act of communion would be evangelistic within the setting of the societies.

The Point

It is clear from these examples that the Gospel of Jesus is spread when His church immerses itself in the unbelieving world not to assimilate but to create a sub-culture.  The Church and its congregants are called to be a counter-cultural beacon amidst the surrounding culture beckoning the world around to come and experience something different.  The Church is called to be a living example of the Good News to the community around it. 

If Christ’s church and His followers are engaged with the world around them seeking to show the community something completely different, to show them the Love of God and His good news, then the people of the world can’t help but be drawn to the church and its way of life

When I was thinking about this reflection and its concept several months ago my lovely wife said to me “that’s great Chad, but what does THAT look like?”  So, what does that look like in 2012 in our communities?

I think I have an idea what it looks like, because I’ve seen several examples of it in resent months.  I think it looks like a freshman girl, who upon learning that separation of church and state does not mean that she is unable to pray and talk about God at school, started a prayer group and bible study that takes place before school once a week at the freshman center. 

I think maybe It looks like a college student who decided to share the hope God had given him during the worse year of his life on YouTube sharing the good news of Christ in a very real way to literally thousands upon thousands of young people.  To date that video has been viewed more than 1.2 million times and has about 11,000 comments about it, not taking into account additional comments referring to it on other social media sites, like facebook, which undoubtedly must number in the thousands.   Amazing!

Perhaps it looks like a family from this church who brings the children of their neighbors or family friends to church activities with the hopes that eventually the entire family will accept the good news of Christ and become a part of this church family.

The point is that this Acts 2 vision has to start with each of us as individuals.   We must begin to see the lost people of this community as God does. 

This church as individuals and as a collective body must decide that they will engage with the world, not to be like it, but to draw it to us by being something completely different.  We must be the revelation of God and his good news the way the church of Acts was, and the way Christ was during his ministry on earth.  We must call these individuals to a new way of life!  We must show them God’s love.  Did you catch that?  The church is called to be the revelation of God to this world the way Christ was when he was on earth…Wow!  That's heavy!

How?  Well, what if a couple of congregants from this church who lived in the same neighborhood decided that they were going to show a fellow neighbor the unconditional love of God in concrete ways.  Do you think that would get their attention?  What if students from our youth ministries decided together that they would befriend a peer who has been labeled as an outcast and invite them to youth events?  Do you think that teenager might consider becoming a part of this church?  I’ve got more ideas, but I think you are starting to get the picture. 

I can tell you what it doesn't look like; it doesn't look like a group of people sitting idly by waiting for someone else to do it.  So will you make the decision today to become an active part of a body of Christ that impacts this world in a way that can’t be ignored and can’t be looked at any other way than favorably?  Are you willing to do what it takes to draw the lost into our fold on a daily basis?