Cultivating Community in the Church
The Early Church & Fellowship
Acts 2:40-46
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
This passage of scripture is a true picture of church community and a clear picture of what true fellowship is meant to be.
Traditional Church Fellowship
Many Churches have a very vague idea of the word fellowship. Some would probably point to another room known as the fellowship hall in their church and explain to you that this is where they meet for fellowship. Some people also think of a time during the service when for three minutes they get up and shake as many hands as they can. This equates to fellowship to them. Some also may refer to the very fact that they meet for church at all as fellowship. I'm not to judge any of these ideologies as right or wrong, but as a pastor in the body of Christ I've learned to examine whether something bears fruit or not and this should help one decide whether something should be changed or not. As I personally see it, these rigid, structured, and routine forms of fellowship are fruitless in the very least and damaging in the very most to the church. In fact, these methods have not bore fruit in the church as research has even shown us.
What has research shown?
Dann Spader of Sonlife Ministries say's
A typical unchurched person must get to know 5.3 believers relationally before they will trust the message of Christianity. Research also shows that they must hear the message 5 to 7 times before they will fully understand it.
America was unchurched. The same poll was given in 1988 and there was a climb to 44%
You may be saying, "Yeah, but that was before 9-11 happened and people are more serious about their faith now." A new study by The Barna Group examined data from nine national surveys, involving interviews with more than 8,600 adults, conducted right before the attacks and at regular intervals since then.
The study shows that despite an intense surge in religious activity and expression in the weeks immediately following 9/11 the faith of Americans is virtually indistinguishable today compared to pre-attack conditions.
We are called to connect with others.
In keeping obedience to Christ's commandment to "Love one another" we must not assume that this is just a warm and fuzzy saying from our Lord. Quite the contrary, it is something to be taken very seriously! I don't think Jesus was being warm and fuzzy at all when He said this. I would say He meant it to be something we would deliberately act upon to save people from perishing in Hell!
In George Barna's book, "The Habits of Highly Effective Churches" he writes:
Highly effective churches are more than just friendly congregations. In our surveys we often find the church leaders believe that a church has gone the distance if it is overtly friendly - at least on Sunday mornings. But our broader research efforts have discovered that what makes a church secure and stable is not mere friendliness, but true concern, compassion, and caring for others. Surprisingly few churches have focused on these deeper aspects of community.
I believe people are far too intelligent to be fooled by our faking it, but a genuine Christ-like love for others will take us farther than any Sunday morning handshake ever could. I've not only theorized and studied this as a student in Christ, but I've experienced it as well in Church and I know it isn't something unobtainable. As a pastor in the body of Christ I'll settle for nothing less than seeing true Christian community cultivated. Although this isn't a hard objective, it still requires a deliberate approach.
If we truly want to be proactive in reaching lives for Jesus then we must do as it says and intentionally go out of our way to establish relationships with others. In doing so we must not establish just any kind of relationship, but it must be done by showing the love of Christ to others.
Showing the love of Christ isn't hard if we look at how Jesus interacted with people. I guess out of the four gospels I love the Gospel of John the best. In John's gospel I feel we see more interaction between Jesus and everyday people, and where did Jesus usually meet people? Jesus would meet them at their basic needs! Food, health, and just being comforting and loving! He spoke to people about things relevant to their everyday life. Discussions about farming, fishing, and other everyday common tasks became bridges for Jesus. He then used these bridges to speak into lives!
Should we minister any differently? If we follow the simple model Jesus gave us then we are truly advancing the Kingdom of Heaven in the earth. We are truly reaching lives for Jesus. More than that - we are reaching INTO lives for Jesus! This is where the rubber meets the road and where people can see the REAL church as Christ intended! That people everywhere would know we are His disciples because we love one another.
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