Sunday School at 9 am | worship at 10 am

Not Perfect, Yet Authentic

Somewhere along the line, you’ve probably heard someone say, “Don’t bother looking for the perfect church. Because if you ever find it, and you JOIN it, then it won’t be perfect anymore!”

The perfect church doesn’t exist, but we’re tempted to think that the church that emerged in Jerusalem was about as perfect as a church can be.  We romanticize that church. We tend to think of the first church in Acts 2 in the same way we think of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2—perfect, pristine, and untouched by sin and corruption.   But “The First Christian Church of Jerusalem” had some pretty serious faults.  Of particular note is their exclusion of those who were not Jewish.  There may have been some proselytes in that church, but can you imagine what would have happened if some Gentile believer showed up to one of their potluck meals with a nice baked ham? 

Even though the church at Jerusalem was not perfect, they had so much going for them that makes us want to do what they did so that we can have what they had—genuine worship, generous giving, and explosive growth. In v. 42, we see that the church “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, the breaking of bread, the fellowship, and the prayers.”  This text has been used by many (including me) to describe the essential functions of a church.  If that practice worked for them, it should work for us too.  Just do what they did, and you’ll have what they had.  The danger is that this becomes a “to do” list of activities. If we are doing all these things, then we think we’re being obedient.  We may even be proud that we are a “genuine New Testament Church.”  But the test of authenticity isn’t just a matter of doing the right things; it’s more a matter of having the right attitudes…of having the right heart and maintaining right relationships. 

 

A New Testament church is a church in which God is present through His Spirit.  It is a church in which He is powerfully at work to glorify Himself by manifestations of His power and grace.  It is a church where people genuinely care for each other.  A New Testament church is a church that is not perfect, but yet is authentic.  It is in such a church where lives are transformed on a regular basis.  That is the kind of church we desire to be.