This is part three of a six part series on Preparing for Pentecost. You can read part two here.
We’ve been looking for inspiration from the ways the apostles and their followers prepared for the first Pentecost in Acts chapters one and two. In part one, we looked at waiting on God. In Part two, we looked at praying without ceasing. This week, we focus on the importance of community life in the earliest church.
In Acts, chapter one, notice that the resurrected Jesus addresses them collectively with several commands just before his Ascension. He told them to tarry in Jerusalem; to wait for the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit; that “you will receive power”; and that “you will be my witnesses.” This is the plural form of you.
They responded collectively – “They all joined together constantly in prayer” (v. 14) for ten days (v. 3) awaiting the Feast of Weeks, which we call Pentecost. The initial group of about 20 grew to 120 praying in the Upper Room (vs. 13-15). They all responded as one, in unity, praying for and awaiting God gifts.
We all know people who attempt to live the Christian life apart from church, apart from a community of believers who regularly gather. For them, it’s just “Jesus and me.” That is a modern conceit. Brian Wright says that Christianity without community is like a song without a melody: it’s incomplete.
Why?
God never intended us to live the Christian life alone. We all need others to encourage us in devotion to God, to correct us when needed, and to spur us on to mission. In isolation, it is impossible to obey the many “one another” commands of Scripture. Evangelical Anglican scholar and leader John Stott said that there are three necessary conversions for a true disciple of Christ: conversion to Christ, conversion to the church, and conversion to the mission of the Church. I agree; fully devoted discipleship includes all three.
Can you imagine yourself in a ten-day continuous prayer meeting in a single room with 120 people, all before modern hygiene? On pilgrimage to Jerusalem, I had the privilege to pray in that same location. It’s hard to imagine being in such close quarters without loving one another, bearing one another’s burdens, and forgiving one another!
It was always so. In the creation account of Genesis 2:18, we finally come to one thing that God says is not good: that Adam is alone. God made Adam, and he made you and me, in such a way that we cannot enjoy paradise without friends. If you are lonely; if you want closer friends – you are not dysfunctional; you are expressing a real and godly need. You’re lonely because you’ve been created with needs, not only for God, but for one another.
The New Testament word for community is koinonia, most often translated “fellowship.” The word literally means “to share.” If you want a real friend, you have to share your life with others. Conversion to the church only begins with weekly worship attendance. I don’t see how it’s possible to attain the level of connection you need for biblical koinonia solely in regular Sunday church meetings, followed by coffee hour. I’m talking about making real friends that you share your very life with – your heart burdens, your ambitions, your struggles, your joys, your deep needs. I mean Christian friends who, if you call them at 3:00AM when you are in a crisis, will be there for you. Do you have a friend like that?
A great way to make soul friends is in a small group of 3 to 12 people, ideally meeting weekly. Such meetings have sustained me ever since I met weekly with a group of young lawyers at the World Bank. My first mentor in the faith met me weekly for 11 straight years. Most life change happens across a table, not in a lecture.
Once the 120 received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” Verse 44 says that “all [now 3,000] the believers were together.” They met daily in the Temple courts; verse 46 says that “they broke bread in their homes and they ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” The prayer in community of Acts, chapter one, begat both life in community and the greater missional focus found in Acts two through 28.
So, are you converted to the church? If not, how can you get better plugged in? What are ways you can pray for God to bring you into greater fellowship and deeper community?
The Rev. Clancy Nixon is Director of Renew, a ministry of Anglican Revitalization Ministries. He served as rector of a church he planted for 24 years, and he led church-planting and revitalization efforts for the ACNA Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic for seven years. He continues to work with the province in healing and renewal ministries. If you’d like to learn more about Renew and how we might serve your congregation or diocese with a conference or coaching, please visit https://www.americananglican.org/renew.