Help Us Be the Church
by Bryan Price
Pastor and Church Consultant
I do not know where the idea originated, but whoever decided to start counting baptisms did the church a great disservice by creating an aspiration beyond what is articulated in the Great Commission. Employing historical narrative, Luke, in the second volume to his gospel, accounts for the genesis of the church. For theological reasons he gives what is seemingly a detailed count of the number of people saved in the earliest years, but he never counts baptisms. Furthermore, his focus on numbers decreases significantly as the book progresses. What Luke spends more time doing is showing how the Spirit of God impressed upon the people of God to be the church in every sense of the word. Acts 2:42-47 is a prime example.
I am told that one of the top requests churches in Illinois ask every year of our state consultants is “Help us grow our church.” With Acts 2:42-47 in mind, I offer a better request: “Help us do our best to be the church in our context with the resources that we have?”
Help us think carefully about what it means to be a warm welcoming congregation, willing to share ourselves with others—people who may not vote the way we do, look the way we look, dress the way we dress, or believe what we believe. Help us evaluate whether we are doing this well. Welcoming people with sincerity leads to having a good reputation in the community, the term Luke uses is favor (vs 47). One pastor shared with me a concern about our SBC family. He expressed, “It seems that we are known more for what we are against than what we are for.” If the only time our communities hear from us is when we are standing against something we will not appear very welcoming. The words of Jeremiah ring true: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer 31:3).
Help us discern creative ways to serve our community. Not by doing what every other church is doing or what we have always done, but in ways relevant to people in our context. VBS and book bag give-a-ways are not the only ministry methods available. For example, the church I pastor took a mission trip to New Orleans, Louisiana to work with a church plant. One of the primary projects was cleaning storm drains. It so happens that in New Orleans the city does not have the resources to keep storm drains in working order, and due to the amount of rain clogged storm drains means frequent flooding. So, this church walks through the neighborhood with trash bags and cleans the storm drains. People are so appreciative they come from their homes and places of business to say thank you. One bakery shop owner brought us fresh cupcakes! Cleaning storm drains afforded us opportunities to have dozens of gospel conversations. A church may not have signs and wonders like the apostles (vs 43), but every church can find their storm drain.
Churches might ask, help us understand what it means to make disciples and how to do it (vs 42). Whether that be in a small group setting at the church building, or in a home, or one-on-one at a coffee shop. Help us realize that regardless of the churches size or age demographic, everyone can impart some measure of Spiritual wisdom into another person to encourage them in their walk with Jesus. A group of seasoned saints can offer childcare for a few hours in the evening while young couples or single moms in the neighborhood enjoy an evening alone. Moms can offer baking classes at the church or in a home and invite kids from the neighborhood to attend. Such efforts provide opportunities to serve, but they also create environments to model faith with children and develop relationships with parents.
Like in Acts 2:42, churches would do well to ask how to develop rhythms of focused prayer, where every member is praying for unsaved, unchurched, and de-churched people. I traveled to Dallas, Texas recently to preach a funeral. I met a man who worked for the funeral home. As it turned out, he was a retired SBC pastor. He asked how my church was doing. I told him that God is doing great things, but there are always challenges with reaching new people. His response impacted me greatly, “Keep praying for lost people in your community and allow God to work.” Every church can pray, and God still answers prayer. The Pentecost explosion was preceded by a room full of people praying (Acts 1:14). Cornelius’ entire household and several friends and neighbors were saved because his prayers made their way into the presence of God (Acts 10:1-4;23-48). The great church at Philippi started with a woman named Lydia who led a small prayer meeting by the side of a river (Acts 11-16). Of all the ingredients needed to advance the kingdom, there is no substitute for fervent prayer.
Everything mentioned is based on Acts 2:42-47, just packaged differently. I do not think the 1st century church would have considered itself as implementing a grand strategy for church growth, they certainly were not striving to see how many people they could baptize. I think they saw themselves as being obedient to the call of Christ and yielding to the unction of the Spirit. I think they were simply being the church that Jesus made them to be, and it worked.
>>>KEEP SCROLLING for RELATED CONTENT & COMMENTARY, RESOURCES & REPLIES