Church as a Prophetic CommunityI’d like to begin by asking each of us: should we, as Christians, focus our resources on nurturing fellow believers, or should we focus on the task of evangelism instead? Which is more important? Perhaps in this regard it's best to think of the church as a bird. In order to fly a bird needs two wings, one on the left and one on the right. In the same way the church needs the nurturing emphasis often found among those on the church's "theological left," but the church also needs the evangelistic emphasis often picked up by those on the "theological right." Without both wings the church, like a bird, is maimed and cannot fly.
The church is therefore called to balance its task of reaching those on the outside who are without Christ, with nurturing those who are already on the inside. Thus, while “the Church is an evangelizing, preaching, teaching, discipling, sending community,”[1] it must also “be a healing community where people find love, acceptance, forgiveness, support, hope, encouragement, burden-bearing, caring, meaning, opportunities for service, challenge, and help in time of need.”[2]
If, on the one hand, we should overemphasize the task of evangelism and downplay our nurturing role, then, as a church, we run the risk of spiritual burnout, especially among those who are already overworked. If, on the other hand, we should forget our missionary calling and underemphasize outreach, then we run the risk of becoming nothing more than social club, where people are mollycoddled into a state of indifference toward those who are dying on the outside without Christ. And so, we must find a way of balancing our “journey inward (with our) journey outward”[3]; with balancing our “in-reach” with our outreach, and probably in that order.
Having said that, let’s now turn to our text in Acts 6 (vv 1-7) – for in it, we’ll see how the early church was able to operate as a prophetic community; that is, how it was able to strike the balance between caring for the needs of its members, and reaching out to others in the wider community in ever expanding circles, so that in thirty short years, the church moved from being a local body of believers in Jerusalem, to a phenomenon that made its way across the then known world to the capital city of the empire – Rome.
In what has been described as “one of the most important…and most discussed verses in the entire book (of Acts),”[4] verse 1 of our text tells us that, “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.”
In order for us to understand what is happening here, let’s try to put this verse in its historical context. In the ancient world, widows represented a very vulnerable section of society. Under Jewish law a woman never received an inheritance, and was therefore completely dependent on her husband for her livelihood. And so, when her husband died, she would very likely end up being poor and easily exploited. This problem became very serious especially in Jerusalem because many devout Jews felt, for religious reasons, that they should spend their last days in Jerusalem and be buried there. And so many foreign Jewish men moved to Jerusalem when they retired, eventually leaving an excessive number of foreign Jewish widows who needed support when they died. This broader societal problem later spilled over into the church.
In the early days of the church, it was therefore customary to make daily disbursements to the poor widows of the church who had no other means of support. But a problem later developed between two groups of members in the church – the Grecian Jews and the Hebraic Jews. Who were these people anyway? Well, the Grecian Jews were Jews who previously lived outside of Palestine; they were raised in Greek culture, and therefore spoke only Greek. The Hebraic Jews, on the other hand, were those Jews who lived in Palestine – the Promised Land, who scrupulously followed their Jewish religious traditions, and whose native language was of Semitic origin.
The Greek-speaking Jews, who were apparently in the minority, were complaining that their widows were not receiving the same treatment as the widows of the Hebraic Jews when food was being distributed each day. It appears that these complaints were, at least in part, occasioned by the differences in language and culture between these two groups.
Of course, this language barrier also brought with it differences in outlook and approach. For example, the Jews who were born in Palestine were rigidly orthodox and often regarded Greek-speaking Jews as second-class Israelites. This prejudice may be seen in the attitude of some of the believers in the Corinthian church who asserted that they were Hebrews, as opposed to being Jews who grew up outside of Palestine (2Cor. 11:22a). Even the apostle Paul, who himself was born outside of Palestine, found it necessary to defend his Hebrew heritage against those who would want to belittle his standing as a Jew (Acts 22:3; 2Cor. 11:22; Phil. 3:5). And so, it seems that the long-standing tension and suspicion between both groups of Jews now reappears years later in the Christian church, this time, in the form of discrimination in the distribution of scarce benefits, so that many needs within the community were now not being met.
Likewise, in today’s church, the existence of unmet needs within the congregation is oftentimes indicative of a deeper, relational problem. “Many churches have a lot of activities but often fail to provide a sense of unity and oneness of spirit. They (function as) preaching-teaching-learning centres, social activity centres, fund-raising centres. Members have a lot of associations – but few close friendships.” [5]
Most ministry groups in our churches tend to be task-oriented. The tendency, in such ministries, is to avoid time-consuming people problems, and focus, instead, on structural issues, which are far easier to tackle. “But the story from the Gospels of the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine sheep to look for the one that was lost shows us that God’s goals are not always (our) goals. (God) calculates human worth on a different scale from ours. To God, the single lost sheep is more precious than the whole flock, which might be working diligently away inside the fold, not knowing – or caring – that one is still missing.” [6] And so, we see that when relationships are not what they ought to be, then the needs of people tend to get neglected.
So, how did the early church in Jerusalem resolve this problem? Quite simply, actually! As a means of resolving the squabble between the two groups in the church, the apostles suggested that the church chooses seven men to handle the responsibility of food distribution. This was a commendable decision, for it meant that the apostles now had to give up control over the very thing that had made them so important to the life of the church (4:34, 35). In the end, the apostles continued to do and teach what Jesus started, but their authority to do so now included other persons within the church.
This solved the problem and allowed the apostles to keep their focus on teaching and preaching the Good News about Jesus. As a result of this, we are told that “the word of God spread (and) the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly” (v. 7).
Here, we begin to see that, with the needs of all the believers now being given careful attention, the church’s outreach ministry flourished and its membership increased. Indeed, it has been said that, “The church that does not evangelize will fossilize.”[7] Former Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, sums up the role of the church in this regard: “The church,” he says, “exists for those who are not yet members of it.”
But while this is true, “Sunday morning (remains) the most segregated time in the week. While millions of open-hearted spiritual seekers live within driving distance of churches all across our land, many churches really just don’t seem to care much. There are many people just waiting to be invited, included, and enfolded into the life and community of a local church, but no one reaches out to them.” [8] It was recently revealed in one of the largest surveys of churchgoing in the UK, that almost three million people said they would go to church if only they were invited.[9]
“Many churches today focus on peripheral matters instead of grace. Some of us coddle our members instead of challenging and commissioning them to open their arms and hearts to people beyond their walls. Some churches give off subtle signals about who is welcome in their church and who isn’t.”[10] Let me share with you a story of a college student. His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He’s a bit odd, but a very, very bright student.
Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students, but are not sure how to go about it. One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in wearing no shoes, in his jeans, his T-shirt filled with holes, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat.
The church is completely packed and he can’t find a seat anywhere. By now people are looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet at the front of the church. (Although perfectly acceptable behaviour at a college fellowship, trust me, this had never happened in this church before!) By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.
About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, wears a three-piece suit, and a pocket watch. A godly man; very elegant; very dignified; very courtly. He walks with a cane and as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves; “You can’t blame him for what he’s going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?”
It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can’t even hear anyone breathing. The people are thinking; “The minister can’t even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do.” What happens next amazes everyone. They see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor, and, with great difficulty he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships alongside him so he won’t be alone. Everyone chokes up with emotion. There seems not to have been a dry eye in the entire congregation that morning.
When the minister finally gains control he says, "What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget." Yes, that’s what evangelism is all about! It isn’t about “Bible-bashing”; it isn’t about slick pulpiteering; rather, it is about the “subtle process of human interaction (through which) men and women experience God’s love, expressed in his people, and come to hear and understand the truth of the gospel. The Holy Spirit is at work in all this, often in ways we do not understand. As a result, people start to follow Christ and join his church.”[11]
This is exactly what we see in v. 7 of our text. After the church began to take seriously the unmet needs of its members, we then read that, “the word of God spread…(and) the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly…” This clearly indicates that the church need not choose between its ministry to its members and its ministry to those who are still outside its fold. Both ministries can advance and grow together. We would therefore do well to build a community that maintains the care of its members as the foundation and condition for an effective outreach ministry. Remember a bird can’t fly on one wing, and neither can the church.
[1] Gary R. Collins in David A. Thompson, Counselling and Divorce, Vol 18: Resources for Christian Counselling series, Dallas: Word Publishing, 1989, 111.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Elizabeth O’Connor in David A. Thompson, Counselling and Divorce, Vol 18: Resources for Christian Counselling series, Dallas: Word Publishing, 1989, 111.
[4] Frank E. Gaebelein, Ed., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Computer software, The Zondervan Corporation, 1989-1998.
[5] David A. Thompson, Counselling and Divorce, Vol 18: Resources for Christian Counselling series, Dallas: Word Publishing, 1989, 108.
[6] David A. Thompson, Counselling and Divorce, Vol 18: Resources for Christian Counselling series, Dallas: Word Publishing, 1989, 108.
[7] Ernest C. Reisinger, Today’s Evangelism: Its Message and Methods.
[8] Bill Hybels, Community: Building Relationships Within God’s Family, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1996, 48.
[9] “Three million more adults would go to church if invited,” The Door, Oxford Diocesan Publications Ltd., April 24, 2007.
[10] Bill Hybels, Ibid.
[11] John Clarke, Evangelism That Really Works.
|
|
 Printable Version |