The next several articles (starting with this one) pick up in Acts 4. The early church is off to a strong start, and – like many new world-changing movements – there are some logistical things to be sorted out.
I think that this is a good reminder that the body of Christ does not merely exist in the spiritual world. While we are adopted into the family of God, we still live in a physical world with practical needs and tangible things that must be considered. (We also have a mental state, which I believe we should tend to, just like we care for our physical bodies.)
God didn’t ignore these aspects of the church, though. After all, He created us, and He knows our needs. He created us with multiple parts to our nature, and while different people might divide things up differently or call our different aspects by various names, I personally think of human beings as having four “components” to our nature (see Mark 12:30, in context of Mark 12:28-31):
- Body – our physical “earth-suits” that we use until we receive new bodies (along with a new heaven and a new earth)
- Mind – our intellect and thought
- Heart – our feelings and emotions
- Soul – our eternal spirit
Not everyone believes that human beings have all of these aspects, or that all of them are good. However, focusing on just one of these things can lead to both heresy and harm to the humans who are affected by worldviews that are too narrow. The following examples are a bit stereotypical (and aren’t meant to identify individuals, whose beliefs are typically more nuanced), but consider them as illustrations of what can happen when someone prioritizes any one part of themselves out of context of the rest:
- Secular evolutionists who focus on the physical aspect of human beings, and consider the mind and heart to just be electrochemical reactions in our brains – the results of evolutionary mutations.
- Mystics who focus on the spiritual, and faiths that consider the physical world to be carnal or even just a product of our imaginations.
- Certain academics who value knowledge and intellect above all else.
- Those who focus on their feelings, telling people that they should follow their heart.
As we study what the members of the early church did for each other, let’s consider whether our own views of human beings – created in the image of God – may be too limited, and how considering all of the aspects of human beings that God gave us could help us become more complete members of the body of Christ, as well as serving others more thoroughly.
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
Acts 4:32 NIV
Right away, we learn that the early church had unity in heart and in mind (NIV). The NASB has “heart and soul”, but I don’t think that we need to get too picky about exactly which parts of being human were aligned here.
This sounds like the kind of unity that Jesus prayed for. (See John 17:11, 20-23) We might think of this as having a common purpose, or a common heart: for Jesus, for each other, and for those who didn’t yet know Jesus.
Can we say that about today’s church? Are we passionate about the unity that Jesus prayed for as we follow the mission that Jesus gave us to fulfill? Do we bring Him joy by being united: as much as God the Father and God the Son are one?
You know the answer as well as I do: groups of people claiming Jesus’ name today are fragmented, live in conflict, and are sometimes downright opposed to other groups of people following the same Lord and Savior.
Now, our first inclination (at least, mine) is to argue that certain other groups are wrong, and to start listing off how many doctrinal issues they have. However, while I absolutely believe that we should strive for the truth, and cast out false teachers from the church, note that the community of believers in Jesus started out as one, and then needed to take action to correct doctrine later (as recorded in the epistles).
Let me propose that perhaps we should find common ground with all followers of Jesus first, and celebrate our shared Lord and Savior. Then, within the body of Christ, we can gently correct and lovingly teach as the Holy Spirit guides us.
In addition, even when it is required, discipline in the church seems to me to be an internal thing, and not something to air in front of a world that is looking for any reason to mock the church.
In the early church, those in need were helped, the physically and spiritually sick were healed, the church gathered openly, and people believed in Jesus. The early church dealt with the whole human being, not just one part of it. While we are dependent upon God for everything that we accomplish, can each of us help to make today’s church look a little more like it did back then?
From Sunday School lesson prepared for October 1, 2023
References:
- The Lookout, October 1, 2023, © 2023 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Acts, by Dennis Gaertner. © 1993 College Press Publishing Co.
- New Testament History: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Acts, by Gareth L. Reese. © 1976, College Press Publishing Company.
Those Who Sin Differently 