Together in FellowshipDo you sometimes experience feelings of loneliness and isolation? Do you long for deeper human relationships? Do you hunger for genuine acceptance and for closer fellowship with others? Do you yearn for more meaningful friendships? Do you ever find your heart crying out, "I was created for more than this; I need to get more out of my interaction with others"?
If you do, then rest assured, you're not the only one; you're among a large and growing number of people who struggle to experience close, meaningful relationships with others.
To illustrate what I mean, let me draw your attention to an advert that once appeared in a newspaper some time ago. It read as follows: “I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.00.” Sounds like a prank, doesn’t it? But the person who placed this ad in the newspaper was quite serious. Did anyone call? You bet they did! It wasn’t long before this individual was receiving 10 to 20 calls a day! The pain of loneliness was so sharp that some people were willing to try anything for just half an hour of companionship.[1]
So what can we do to free ourselves from the vice-grip of loneliness and disconnectedness which have become such a common problem in today’s society? A good place to start, I believe, is to seek to cultivate a growing relationship with God, for, believe it or not, our ability to experience and enjoy the fullness of human community is directly linked to our relationship with God. For, you see, all of “human life depends on relatedness to God.”[2]
“Many people wish they were doing better in their human (relationships), but they don’t see that there is a definite connection between their communion with God and the quality of their human relationships. (Our) relationship-building potential with (our) horizontal relationships is directly tied to the maturity level of (our) vertical relationship with God,” [3] and this involves making space in our lives to worship God and to be in his presence.
“Has it ever occurred to you,” asked the late preacher, A W Tozer, “that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other?” He went on to explain that the pianos…
…are on one accord by being tuned, not to (one) other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshippers (meeting) together, each one looking…to (God), are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become “unity” conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship (in some other way).
The truth of this statement is to be seen in the common life of the early Christians who, we are told “devoted themselves to…fellowship," a word which, in the original Greek, means more than just an association, or acquaintance; it means to share in the live of another. When these Christians came together, they gave themselves to one other, such that each one of them was committed to the welfare of the other though a network of caring and mutually supportive relationships.
In elaborating on this point, Luke describes the members of this Christian community as having "all things in common." In Luke's world, this phrase was commonly used in speaking of close friendship. You see, a "fellowship of believers shares more than common beliefs and core values; they display a profound regard for one another’s spiritual and physical well-being as a community of friends." [4]
In continuing his elaboration on the common life of the first Christians, Luke next mentions the joyful practice in which they “broke bread in their homes." Many have supposed that this description is a reference to the sacrament of Holy Communion. But it isn't really. What it is, is a reference to the early Jewish practice in which devout families, following a time of worship in the temple, would share meals together as an expression, not just of their shared spiritual bond, but also of their common social life, [5] for in the society of the New Testament, sharing a meal at table with someone was a particularly intimate form of friendship.
When was the last time you invited, or were invited by, a church member for a meal or cup of coffee? How much time do you spend each week with friends from church? Do you find it easy to talk about you feelings with other church members? The responses you give to these questions will serve as a strong indicator of how much you are experiencing the kind of loving relationships described in our text.
If you’re not at this time experiencing such relationships in your life, it is important that you recognize that there is nothing automatic about cultivating such a deep, intimate spiritual bond with one another, for we simply don’t drift into deep, meaningful relationships just like that. Oh no! The benefits of such relationships only become something we can actually discern and experience as we become prepared to take risks and push beyond the wall of superficiality to a deeper level of friendship and community. This we are best able to do when we are in a growing, flourishing relationship with God.
We see this happening in our text where the daily routine of worship in the temple is linked with meeting in believers’ homes. For these Christians, the worship of God naturally led to the building of relationships between them, for the inner security we need in order to take risks in our human relationships comes from the relationship we have with God. It is from this rich place of security and peace that we are able to move more freely in and around our relational world. We are able to take pressure off the people around us because our source of security and strength is God, not them. You’ll discover that when your relationship with God is rich and growing, you’ll move into human relationships with less fear. You’ll also be more able to let human relationships go when their season comes to an end. I can be secure in my human relationships because my final security is in my relationship with God.[6]
And so, for the time being, the community described in Acts has no material needs, no conflicts among its members, no broken hearts for which to petition God for his tender mercies. These will come soon enough. For now there are only success stories of a community of friends filled with joy and gladness.[7] Here we see an idealized picture of diverse and dissimilar peoples – Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome, Cretans and Arabs – who are later seen worshipping together, eating together, and having all things in common. Amazing, isn’t it? “The model of Christian community we see here is one of common worship (which leads to) common practice, common good, and common witness.” [8]
But eventually this idealized picture gives way to stories of rivalry and conflict, as we see, for example, in the dispute which led to the convening of the first great conference of the church, reported in chapter 15. The dispute began when some Christians who were based in Jerusalem were going out to Gentile churches and insisting that the men in these churches be circumcised to signify that they were followers of the Laws of Moses first, and followers of Jesus second. A church disturbance resulted, which led to the setting up of this conference.
What similarities do you notice between what was happening in the early church and many of today’s churches regarding disputes over which tradition to follow and which not to? Today, we observe that the loving relationships which ought to exist between Christians are often marred by the noise of discord over which style of worship most effectively expresses the prayer of one’s heart. Some people want to sing only hymns, others want to sing only choruses, still others don’t want to sing at all. One group wants the reading of the Scriptures to reflect inclusive language when referring to humanity; others want inclusive language for both humanity and God; still others insist one should never alter the original text of the Bible.
How can we become a close-knit fellowship in spite of these differing expectations and points of view? I believe we need to get back to basics and rediscover the sheer simplicity of worship illustrated in the very early life of the church, for it is in so doing that we turn to the source of our common identity as the people of God, we acknowledge the supremacy of our Lord over all of life, and we are thus formed once again as the church – God’s covenant community. This has the effect of uniting us into meaningful and loving relationships with the whole family of God throughout all nations, all peoples and all languages, in spite of our differing needs, perspectives, or expectations. Remember: a hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other. Amen.
[1] Chuck Swindoll in Roy B. Zuck, The Speaker’s Quotebook: Over 4,500 Illustrations and Quotations for All Occasions, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1997, 232.
[2] J. Clinton McCann, Vol 4: The Book of Psalms: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections, Electronic Ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
[3] Bill Hybels, Community: Building Relationships Within God’s Family, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1996, 29.
[4] Robert W. Wall, Vol 10: New Interpreter’s Bible: The Acts of the Apostles, Electronic Edition, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 71-72.
[5] Robert W. Wall, op. cit., 72.
[6] Bill Hybels, op. cit.., 29.
[7] Robert W. Wall, op. cit., 72.
[8] Ibid., 72.
|
|
 Printable Version |