Acts and the Body of Christ

Hey Internet,

So I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be the Body of Christ for the last little while. We touched on it a little at our retreat a couple weeks ago, and I thought I would share a little bit of that session on here.

Community is a super important thing for us to have in our Christian walk. First let me just say that community goes beyond just friendships, and, while I hate to use Christianese, steps more into the fellowship aspect of our lives. The biggest difference between a group of friends and a community is that a community requires intentionality in relationships, like a family, while a group of friends is, well, just that, a group of people who already get along and don't need to work at it. I really like to use the early church in Acts as an example of a community.

"They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teachings and to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved."- Acts 2:42-47


So these guys had a pretty tight connection going on- they spent all their time studying the gospel, taking communion together, praying together, sharing meals with eachother, etc. It says that they "had all things in common"- this should be understood as "all possessions/belongings in common" and not all personality traits, they were definitely individuals! This is just trying to express how much they shared, as they shared everything, as people had need. This is a beautiful picture of what a body of believers should look like, doing life together and not being stingy with one another.

What a community should offer is accountability, support and encouragement. It should be a place of comfort where people can share what they're going through and ask for prayer and support, and where people are constantly encouraging one another in their walk with Christ. These things all make it much easier to follow the callings God has put on your life- if you've got somebody you're accountable to who is regularly checking in with you and praying for you and supporting you in the good and bad times, you're much better off than if you're on your own. Think about the Body of Christ as outlined in 1 Corinthians 12. If parts of the Body aren't taken care of, or are separated and left alone, it's seriously detrimental to their ability to perform the tasks they're supposed to perform. This is why it's so important to have other Christians you're close to who you can share with and be accountable to. A group who are constantly ministering to and receiving from one another in an atmosphere of love and vulnerability.

/end rant (for now?)