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Introduction: Imagine, for a
moment, the average American conservative church of Christ. We
will call it the Anytown Church. It is imaginary in that the
particular group does not exist. However, you will find it
represents many churches you have known. This congregation began
50 to 60 years ago with a handful of Christians who decided to
start a new work in Anytown, USA. They began by meeting in a
storefront. During the 50s and 60s, they had high growth rate. In
the 60s, they regrettably went through a split over the issues
surrounding institutionalism. Following that dark period, they
grew again. Some of the members decided to start another
congregation across town in the 70s. In the 80s, they plateaued at
around 100 and have bounced along for 20 years between 75 and 125
members. In 2005, there are a few new converts. However, most of
the congregation’s members have either been “brought up in the
church” or were converted back in the growth spurts of the 50s,
60s and 70s. A handful of the membership is from other parts of
the country or from other churches in town. They appointed four
elders in the 1980s, but two of them have since died and one of
them moved, leaving only one man the congregation considers
qualified. Therefore, they don’t have any elders. They have a
preacher that has been working with them for two years.
The Anytown Church of Christ has taken a very close look at
the past 20 stagnant years. They have baptized a few people along
the way, but generally lost just as many people as they baptized
either to the world or to other congregations. Having decided to
do something to produce growth, spiritually and numerically, the
Anytown church started examining the Jerusalem
church. Just like
us, they have seen the Jerusalem church’s devotion to worship,
unity, aggressive evangelism, leadership development, close
relationships with one another and individual spiritual
development. The Anytown church has realized they need to foster
these same keys in their congregation to have the success the
Jerusalem church had. However, the Anytown church has also
recognized the early Christians in Jerusalem had some advantages
that more readily and easily produced these keys to success. The
advantage was not the apostles or the miracles. The Anytown church
understands that we have everything the Holy Spirit provided
through the miracles and the apostles in the Bible. Jerusalem’s
advantages were different. So, the Anytown Church of Christ began
to draw up a list of advantages that the Jerusalem Christians had,
making growth easier to attain. They came up with three points of
contrast.
Before looking at these points of contrast, I want to
explain why I have set this lesson up in this manner. At the
Franklin Church of Christ, we are not the Anytown Church. On the
other hand, we are not the Jerusalem Church either. We are
actually somewhere between these two very different congregations.
However, we have to choose which of these congregations we want to
be. We are either going to progress in our maturity as a
congregation and become more and more like Jerusalem or we will
become satisfied where we are and become more and more like the
Anytown church. To make this choice we have to see the underlying
differences. Discussion: I. The Jerusalem church had the widespread enthusiasm of something new. A.
In the
Anytown Church of Christ, most of the members were either
“brought up in the church” or converted years ago. The basic
messages of the Bible are old hat to them. In fact, the great
majority of them have heard the Bible stories since they were
children. They know how the stories end and very few lessons
surprise them. They can often tell what the preacher is going to
say next because they have heard sermons on the particular passage
he is discussing over and over again. Every great once in a while,
a preacher or Bible class teacher will make a point that causes
one of the “Aha!” moments and stirs the embers a little bit.
But most of the time the church simply goes through its routine.
They have worship twice on Sunday. They have Bible classes on
Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. They have fifth Sunday
singings, two Gospel meetings a year and a VBS every summer. The
church does what it does because this is what it has always done.
Excitement is low because nothing “extraordinary” is going on. B.
In the
Jerusalem Church of Christ, even the apostles were new to
Christ’s church. Some times, the lessons they were teaching were
new even to them because in some situations they were speaking by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit (cf. Mark 13:11). Every single one of the individuals in the church
had been dealing with an old problem, the problem of sin. And
every single one of them had recently experienced the
solution—forgiveness in Jesus. Nothing was humdrum because they
were new at everything. No wonder they were excited. They had just
come to realize what God had truly done for them. They wanted to
let every one know. Because they wanted to let everyone know, many
others kept coming in which simply increased their excitement and
enthusiasm over this new found salvation. Extraordinary things
were happening every day. People’s sins were being forgiven
without having to kill any animals. They were able to worship God
without going to the temple or going through the priests. C.
Where are we
regarding enthusiasm and excitement over what Jesus has done for
us? Are we more like the Anytown church or the Jerusalem church?
If everyone in the congregation were like you, which one would we
be? Has the gospel of Christ become old hat for us? Or is the
message still as exciting as it was the very first time we heard
and understood it? The Anytown church is a lot like the church at
Ephesus described in Revelation
2:1-7. They held to doctrinal purity and would not allow error
or immorality in the church. But that first love, that zeal, that
excitement, that passion they had when everything was new had
seeped out of the congregation as they slipped into routine of
daily living, working and worshipping. If we will be like
Jerusalem, we must make sure we each maintain that first love,
that zeal we had as new converts that caused us to want to be at
every service, to talk with our friends and family, to spend time
daily in Bible study and prayer. We have to realize how
extraordinary what we are doing right now is. We are in God’s
presence worshipping Him. People are leaving the path to hell and
entering the path to heaven. Is there anything more extraordinary?
When we have the sense of the extraordinary and maintain the
excitement we will be what Jerusalem was. If we let it become old
and routine, in a few years, we will be the Anytown church. II.
The
Jerusalem church was free from traditional approaches to their
worship and work. A.
The Anytown
Church of Christ has been meeting at the same location, in the
same building for nearly 30 years. About the only thing that has
been changed in the way the congregation works and worships is who
the preacher was since they have had a new preacher every three to
five years. But they have always had the Lord’s Supper and
offering before the sermon, except for once when a new preacher
did a lesson on the Lord’s Supper and asked that Lord’s Supper
be done after the sermon. So many people complained they never
allowed it again. For thirty years they have approached the work
of gospel meetings, Bible classes, VBS, worship services and
personal evangelism in the same way. Every two or three years they
have had a men’s training class to help young men learn how to
lead the congregation in prayer and wait on the Lord’s table.
This church has established scriptural traditions for conducting
the worship and work of the congregation. Those traditions have
become unspoken laws that no one should question or propose
changing. In fact, notice what happened in the Anytown
congregation when the preacher once suggested a change in the way
they handled one aspect of the work. 1.
Since the
70’s, if there was ever a benevolent need, the preacher had to
investigate the situation and determine a course of action. When
they had elders, he made a suggestion to them for final approval.
When the eldership dissolved, he had to report to the men’s
business meeting for final approval. However, since this new
preacher has come in, the church has grown some and has had some
increased need for benevolence. In fact, so much that the preacher
is no longer able to deal with it himself without cutting into his
ability to study, teach and preach. In the last men’s business
meeting, he asked if someone else could review benevolent needs.
The phone calls he has received over the last two weeks has caused
him to wish he had never said anything. 2.
One brother
called to say he wasn’t comfortable with someone else reviewing
benevolent needs. In fact, he wasn’t quite sure if it was
scriptural just allowing an “ordinary” member to learn about
the special needs of some of the members. 3.
Another
brother called to say that in his old church, the elders always
dealt with benevolent situations. If the preacher here didn’t
want to do it, he should quit complaining to the men and get
elders appointed. 4.
One of the
sisters called to let him know how outraged she is about what her
husband just told her. She cannot believe that this preacher is so
lazy and uncompassionate that he does not want to handle
benevolent cases. “Why, the last preacher we had was always
there when people were in need. Maybe you are just not the
preacher we need here.” B.
Notice what
happened in Jerusalem when a very similar situation arose. In Acts 6:1-6, because the church had grown so much, the apostles were
no longer able to be at the helm making decisions and keeping up
with the benevolent needs of the widows. So, they changed their
approach to accomplishing that work within the congregation. They
suggested that the congregation pick seven men to lead in that
work. The apostles basically said they did not have time to deal
with the widows’ needs, so others should be given that
responsibility. Did the congregation mutiny? No. According to Acts
6:5, the statement found approval. This church had not had
time to develop a tradition bound approach to the work and worship
of the congregation. When the apostles suggested a new approach,
nobody was convinced that things shouldn’t be changed because
that is the way they had always done it. Notice, neither approach
to dealing with the widows’ needs was unscriptural. The members
of the Jerusalem church were able to see that changing their
approach did not mean turning from God’s pattern for the church.
It simply meant finding a more expedient way to get the work done. C.
Where are
we? Are we more like Jerusalem or more like Anytown? What if the
whole congregation were just like you? Which of these two churches
would we be? The Anytown church has become so enamored with the
processes they established years ago they can no longer tell the
difference between expedient, scriptural changes in the worship
and work of the church and adulterating God’s plan and pattern.
They often see anything that is different from what they are used
to as “liberal” or sinful. They believe they are mature
because they want to hold to the standard. In fact, they are
immature because they don’t know what the real standard is
anymore. If we will be like Jerusalem, we must realize growth
means changing the way things work. If we will be like Jerusalem,
we must realize that change does not necessarily mean we have
turned from God’s pattern or plan. In Acts
6:1-6, the Jerusalem church changed in two of the fundamentals
of how the church worked. The apostles changed how they led the
congregation, appointing leaders over a particular task. They also
changed the way the needs of members in the congregation were met,
making other members in the church directly responsible for
meeting the needs. Yet, Jerusalem approved of the change. We must
never adulterate God’s plan. But we must also be mature enough
to know the difference between turning from God’s pattern and
simply changing an approach that continues to be in line with
God’s plan for His church. III.
The
Christians in Jerusalem had time to spend with other Christians,
worshipping, working and simply being together. A.
The members
of the Anytown church can often be heard saying they don’t seem
to get together as often as they used to. In fact, over the last
two years some of the members have moved to a congregation across
town, because they just didn’t feel at home in the Anytown
Church anymore. Nearly everyone feels that way and everyone wishes
somebody would do something. But few people have the time. Several
of the members have jobs that cause them to work all kinds of
hours. Some of them have two jobs to try to stay ahead of the
bills. Many of them have kids involved in several after school
activities, keeping them running around most weeknights. They have
a tough time making it to Wednesday night Bible class, let alone
trying to get together with other Christians on some other night
of the week. Additionally, there are a few mothers with small
children whose husbands aren’t Christians, so the effort it
takes to get the kids ready for all the services seems too much to
bear, let alone trying to meet at the one sister’s house who is
trying to get the young mothers together on a regular basis.
Everyone wants to spend more time with other Christians, but no
one has the time to do so. B.
The members
of the Jerusalem church had time to spend with one another. Not
only did they meet regularly as a congregation to worship God, but
they had time to spend with each other from house to house
separate from the corporate worship. According to Acts
2:46-47, the Jerusalem Christians met in one another’s homes
daily. This wasn’t just the occasional eating out after services
or a holiday get together. They were always spending time with one
another. Notice what they were doing when they spent time
together. They were taking time just to be together socially,
getting to know one another and enjoying one another’s company
taking their meals together with gladness. But they not only spent
social time together, they spent spiritual time together. They
were praising God from house to house as well. They spent time
together apart from the corporate worship worshipping God
together. That is, they were praying and singing together, not
just once in a blue moon, but daily. C.
Where are we
regarding our time together? Are we more like the Anytown church
or more like the Jerusalem church? If everyone in this whole
congregation were like you, which one of these churches would we
be? The members of the Anytown church have gotten caught up in all
the things the world has to offer to fill their time. They have
become distracted by all the things that go on down here they
sometimes forget to prepare for eternity (Colossians
3:2). In many cases the things that fill their time are not
sinful. Their lives are so cluttered, they simply do not have time
to be with one another. They are like Martha, who did not have
time to sit at the feet of the Master because she had to clean
house (Luke 10:38-42).
Several of them do not even have time to make it to all the
worship services, let alone to do something beyond the corporate
worship. If we are going to be like Jerusalem, we have to be time
conscious. We have to recognize that perfectly good and normal
activities can so clutter our days that we are not involved in
what is best and most necessary, spending time with one another. I
understand that there were some special circumstances in
Jerusalem. Numerous people had come from out of town for
Pentecost, had been converted and stayed. They were without jobs
and connections in the city. That provided more time than perhaps
we can ever have to spend with one another. However, we cannot
deny that time together from house to house was one of the key
issues that made success easier for Jerusalem than for Anytown. D.
I want to
share a quote with you from David Myers book, The
American Paradox. Communal socializing also
appears to be on the way out. Putnam finds that Americans in 1997
were entertaining friends and acquaintances at home 40 percent
less often than in 1975, attending club meetings nearly 60 percent
less often, and giving half as many dinner parties. Families are
also eating together less often. In 1975, 50 percent of married
Americans agreed that ‘our whole family usually eats dinner
together’; in 1997, only 34 percent did. When we add the
increasing number of single people living by themselves, ‘dining
alone’ may have doubled in the past quarter century. What we are
doing more of, to replace this communal activity, is watching TV,
renting videos, and Web surfing and working on our home
computers.” (Yale
University Press, New Haven and London, 2000, p 179.) E.
The members
of the Anytown church do not have less time than they used to
have. They are simply following our American culture. They are not
using the time they have to communalize with their brethren. Do
you realize the average American now has more discretionary time
than ever before? We have far more discretionary time than the
Jerusalem brethren did. It takes us less time to cook and clean.
It takes us less time to travel anywhere. We live in an age of
convenience and fast food. We save more time accomplishing the
necessities of life than any generation before us, and yet we
complain about having less time than any of them. Why? It is not
because we lack discretionary time, it is what we do with it? If
we will be like Jerusalem, we must redeem our time (Ephesians 5:16). Part of redeeming the time is spending time from
house to house praising God and being together. Conclusion: Which congregation are we closer to? The Anytown Church or the Jerusalem Church? Right now we are not exactly either one of these congregations but one of them is our future. Which one is it? If we maintain our first love, excitement and zeal for Christ and His message of forgiveness … If we are able to be open to scriptural expedient change within the congregation without thinking every variation is sin… If we make time and take time to spend with one another from house to house beyond the corporate worship, then all the keys we need to keep the members we have and add new members will fall into place. Let us never be the average American church. Rather, let us be extraordinary.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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