On my recent trip to India the Lord brought clarity in my heart about ‘Church life’ or life in the Spirit. Each of us who are in Christ craves for a deeper, more meaningful walk with Jesus. Likewise, we all seek to experience the moving of God’s Spirit as recorded in the book of Acts.
As I mentally listed what the Church has today that we don’t find in the book of Acts, it intrigued me. We have beautiful buildings, bookstores, concerts, and a variety of Christian music, cafés, computers with all kinds of Bible programs, Christian radio, innumerable Bible translations, and the list goes on and on.
Now, what did the Church in the book of Acts have or rely upon? The risen Jesus, the Person of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of the Father’s love and grace, the Word of God in their heart, and the fellowship with their Lord and one another. Their homes were their ‘cafés’. Their worship times were their concerts. They were taught God’s word and they shared it wherever they went as the Holy Spirit led them. They were totally dependent upon God to heal, save, protect, and provide for them.
To get a clearer picture of God’s heart and plan for His Church, read Acts 2, John chapters 13-17, Philippians 2:1-11, and Mark 10:43-45.
Pastor Ray,
Unfortunately the beauty of the early church in Acts 2 is cited by some to promote political ideology. For example, Acts 2:44 often gets plucked out of context to support communism:
“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.”
However, the church of Acts 2 was not following communism, they were following Jesus. In Luke 18 we read:
“Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?'”
Jesus’ response:
“Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Similar thoughts appear in Mathew 19 and Mark 10.
Sharing what we have with the poor is only a means, not an end. FOLLOW ME was the essence of Jesus’ answer to the question (how to inherit eternal life). Salvation does not come from works or giving to the poor, it comes from following Him.
In sharp contrast, communism (another “ism”) does not follow God, it follows itself. The reason Christianity is prohibited in many communist countries (like the one I lived in) is that it enforces a government or ruler as a god. As Marx wrote in his Manifesto, communism can only function as a totalitarian system.
Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Nikita, Castro, Kim Sung Mun have three things in common: communist ideology; dictatorship; followers of atheism. Communism in a sense is a religion of state worship, THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT FOLLOWING JESUS IS ABOUT. Through the Holy Spirit we give of ourselves, not through a regime or political system. With Jesus we choose to give of ourselves to follow HIM, with communism we are forced to give what we have to follow IT.
Political systems can at best provide us the freedom to follow our faith without persecution. Thank God His kingdom is not of this world.
Blessings,
JoseM