Reflections on... First Century Churches (FTS_MC500)

Today we wrapped up our discussion on First Century Discussion, beginning with a small group discussion time centered on Acts 2:42-47. It's always interesting to discuss passages that we in Campus Crusade for Christ focus on so heavily. Not that we own any of these passages, far from it, but discussions outside of a CCC context always bear out how we selectively read passages, for good and ill. We call this one the Transformational Community passage, because it is the first example of a transformational community where people are being won to Christ, built up in their faith, and sent out to reach others. We emphasize well the reality of "biblical teaching, prayer, and real koininia (fellowship)" present in the "Acts 2" church. At the center of our hope for the college campus is the vision of seeing students embody this kind of community where they and the surrounding community will be awe of the ways in which God is at work, seeing others added to the community of believers with great regularity, until "everyone knows someone that truly follows Jesus," as we say. Of course, our reading of Acts 2 is selective, as are others'. The problem is that in our standard schema of a "transformational community" for the campus we leave out some of the most prominent characterizations of this Acts 2 community: celebrating the Eucharist (if that is indeed what "breaking bread" refers to; if not then at least true table fellowship should be practiced on campus), "signs and wonders" (which here was done by the apostles but seems to have spread throughout the church in the New Testament [Phillip in Acts 8:4-8, many in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 27-31), observance of regular prayer times, radical hospitality and generosity for the common good, finding favor with outsiders, and daily interaction with each other and those outside such that there could be daily entrance into the new community of "the saved." I see some of these things changing on a grassroots level, but I hope that we as leaders and campus workers will promote it and not resist it in the eyars to come.

We also discussed Christian Worship in the First Century, Christian Mission in the First Century, and Leadership in the First Century church. It was interesting to note that the "order of worship" in mostly Jewish churches was inherited from the synagogue: opening prayer and praise, creedal confession and benedictions, reading from the Scriptures, and a homily. According to Dr. Bolger, many of these first Jewish churches, the house in which the synagogue met became the house in which the church met. The order of worship in those churches which had little to no Jewish influence were much more fluid and varied, cf. the letters to the Corinthians and the Thessalonians. As we were discussing, I was reminded of stories Dr. Jay Travis told about Muslims who begin to believe in Isa (Jesus) and meet to read the Quran and the Injil (New Testament), pray for each other, and apply the teachings of Jesus to their lives. The form of their meetings remain the same, but the content and the resulting community changes.

One last bit of interest: it was observed that there is little evidence that collecting money was a regular (certainly not weekly) part of the meeting together of the first churches. As Ravi Zacharias has wryly asked in this regard, what does it say about us that we hold tightly to a weekly offering but with reluctance institute a monthly Lord's Supper of stale crackers and a thimble of grape juice? It betrays our financial and dogmatic fears at worst, and our troublesome professionalizing of the clergy at best. Rather, it would seem, we should celebrate communion weekly in smaller setting where people are know and food can be enjoyed, and congregational giving should be generous and according to needs.