May 15 - Acts 8: The Church on Mission

Another story of a Christian community acting anything but.  Another narrative of church leadership living in deception.  Another tale of someone leaving the church because of betrayal and experiencing a lack of grace.  There are times when I want to call it quits on the church, that imperfect body of Christ, that so often misrepresents Him.

"You are right to be discouraged with what your culture so often calls Christianity.  You are wrong to give in to futility.  My Son's work has only begun.  My plan is on track.  My Spirit is working.  Never give up on the church!"  (66LL)

Gratefully, God has never given up on us, His Bride, whom He is forming into His likeness, bringing to perfection.   As this process moves on until Christ returns, I keep asking myself what is the purpose of the church?  What did the church look like in Acts?  What should it look like today?  How has our western culture shaped our expectations of what church should be?

This time, as I'm reading through Acts, I'm looking at things a little differently.  I used to camp in Acts 2 as the ideal church - holding everything in common, worshipping daily together, sharing meals, living in unified community - which is a beautiful picture of the church.  But, it's just one picture and it's not the whole picture.  Today, we read Acts 8 where the church is just as much the church, but it is experiencing something very different from Acts 2.  The church is facing "a terrific persecution."

The believers were all scattered throughout Judea and Samaria (refer to Acts 1:8) .... Forced to leave home base, the Christians all became missionaries.  Wherever they scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus. (8:3-5)

Although I've faced some pretty nasty stuff in church life, real persecution for my beliefs has not been a part of my church experience.  And yet, according to these verses, persecution was God's very plan for His Church to be His witnesses, even to the ends of the world.  They weren't supposed to stay in Jerusalem living out Acts 2. God's plan was larger, harder, more glorifying and led to the conversion of the greatest persecutor, Saul, who became "a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment."

Suffering and persecution is the stuff that God uses to make us into a church on mission, not just a church that's meeting.   My focus must move from discouragement with the church to looking for where God's Spirit is working.