In Acts chapter one, we read about the disciples preparing themselves for something glorious that Jesus said was about to take place. In chapter two it happened. The Holy Spirit was poured out, and the church was born. Great signs and wonders followed this event, and several thousand were added to the church in a short amount of time. For the next three chapters, we see the church growing, but also being persecuted by many of the leaders in that day. Still, the church never wavered but continued to go from house to house, preaching the gospel and having fellowship with one another.
By the time we get to the sixth chapter, we see a Spirit-filled church having major problems. There were two groups at this period, and one of the groups didn’t feel like their widows were being treated as well as the widows in the other group were. I’ve said many times, that the problem is never the problem. In other words, what causes a disruption isn’t always where the problem lies, it’s just what tipped the scales.
That was the case with these two groups. Without going into a lot of detail, here’s what it came down to. One group of Jews was a more conservative group and leaned toward a Judaic point of view. The other group of Jews followed more to Greek culture and were considered liberal by the other group. I think you can see where the real problem began. The more liberal group viewed the others as a Holier-Than-Thou type, while that group viewed the others as not being Holy enough. So, in just a short amount of time, we see them go from the Day of Pentecost to a day of contention and potential division.
Here we are, almost two thousand years later, and this same Spirit-filled church is having some of the identical problems as they were then. The church seems to be fluctuating between being an Acts chapter two church or an Acts Chapter six. It doesn’t matter how much of God we’ve experienced; we still tend to look at people as either Holier-Than-Thou or not Holy enough. One group is too conservative; the other is too liberal. We have to stop dividing each other into groups and remind ourselves that we are ONE CHURCH.
I am going to continue writing about this throughout the week, but I don’t remember the Apostles ever telling either group that one was more saved than the other or that one particular group was going to be lost because they didn’t hold to a more traditional view. The way they solved the problem was not by creating more division with voicing personal opinions, but they chose to let the Word of God unite them and bring them together.
If some want to separate the body of Christ into groups, they can certainly try and do that. One group may lean toward a more traditional view, while others may have a more liberal perspective on some things. However, I will tell you this, we will not get as much done for the Kingdom of God by huddling up into groups, but when we stand together as an army, that’s when the enemy fears us. I choose to fight the real enemy, and my brother and sister should not become my adversary. Let’s agree to get back to being an Acts two church and not an Acts six.
WE’RE NOT GROUPS; WE’RE THE CHURCH!!!
