Being an Acts 2 Church

I’m not sure when this was done, so it’s possible that this is old news and that much has changed. That said, I am sure that this is still pretty valid, regardless of the date: A survey was made of 4000 churchgoers in 114 evangelical churches across the U.S. They were asked, "Do you feel the preaching on Sunday relates to what's going on in your life?" Over 83% saw virtually no connection between what they heard on Sunday morning and what they faced on Monday morning. 

Now I know that the point of the graphic was to show how the typical evangelical church is not properly teaching their people things that applied to their daily life. However, I see this and find something completely different. I see that there are 17 percent of churchgoers who are finding ways to live outside of church based on the teaching of their pastors.

There’s two parts to making this happen. First, what do you each have to do to hear God’s Word every Sunday and recognize what it means in your life. If God tells you that you need to read your Bible more frequesntly, are you doing it? If God is saying that you need to meet more often with other Christians are you doing it? If God is saying in the message that you need to spend more time in prayer, are you doing it? The first part of becoming an Acts 2 church and becoming one of the 17-percent who have their lives changed by the message is on you. What is God telling you to do and what do you need to do to obey Him?

The second part is on me. This is a classic obstacle that every teacher needs to try to overcome – how do I get people to not just hear the word on Sunday mornings, but to take it into their hearts and make it change the way they live. You see, in this survey, most people were not affected by the teachings because they heard the Word on Sunday and went back to their regular lives on Monday. Of course the teachings weren’t applicable! However, for the minority of people, they heard the word and it was able to change their lives. They were able to take the teachings and apply them on Monday. These are the Christians who are different. These are the Christians who others see and say, “What is it about them? How can I get some of that?”

One of the guys was telling us a couple of weeks ago at Men’s group about a man who he knew that is always joyful. He has the Word of God living in him. He told us how everyone who knows this man says how different he is than anyone else they’ve met, how he is always joyful in every situation, how he really lives for his God. He tells us that this man has probably brought 150 people to God personally. Now THAT is a man who is changed by the Word! That is a man who hears the message on Sunday and it affects how he lives on Monday.

Jesus told us that there would be four types of soil – those who hear Word but it never sinks in, those who hear the Word and it sinks in but only for a short time until problems come and then they revert to their old ways, those who hear the Word but lets the worries of the world overtake it and finally those who hear the Word and produces 100- 60- and 30-fold. In other words, most people who hear the Word will not keep it – they will go back to their regular ways of living even after hearing it. This is the 83-percent of Christians in the study. They hear the Word but they let the ways of the world and the struggles of life overtake them. They don’t hold on to what they were just taught on Sunday. Jesus’ parable teaches that only a small portion of those who hear the Word will keep it in their hearts and allow it to change their lives. Yet those are the people who will bring in the most at the harvest 100-, 60- and 30-fold!

In Acts 2 we read about a bunch of people who heard the Word. Their lives were so transformed by it, that they became different people. They became the Church! They couldn’t get enough of it. They were devoted to it. They came back every day to meet with each other, to tell others about Jesus, to hear the Apostles teach, to pray together and just to fellowship in that deep, koinonia way. But we really need to go back to the survey and to Jesus’ words. Out of all those people who became Christians, not everyone was able to have it impact their lives nor were they able to impact the lives of others. Why would we make the assumption that the words of Jesus and the findings of the study only apply to our day? We saw that 3000 people accepted Jesus on the day of Pentecost, but how many others heard the words and did not accept? Those would have been the hard ground where the seed could not even take hold and the birds took and ate it.

But then, even of the 3000, how many of them felt that they didn’t really need to meet every day? After all, they heard what the Apostles told them on the day of Pentecost and accepted Jesus as their Lord. So they are all good now. They don’t need to meet every day with those other Christians. They can continue to hang out with their old friends, continue doing the same thing today as they did yesterday. They didn’t see a need to change because they were saved. These are like the 83-percent from the study that go to church, think they are going to heaven, but meanwhile continue to live as they have every other day of their lives. The gospel has had no real effect on them and they have no real effect on others, in terms of eternity.

How many of the 3000 left the church because troubles came up? How many left because their families gave them a hard time? How many left because their friends started to make fun of them? How many left because when the persecution started, their faith was not strong enough to keep them in the church? Jesus told us that even within the Church there would be 2 out of 3 who would not be fruitful. We see that in the 83-percent who hear the Word every week and yet it has no impact on their every day life. I’ll give you that in many of those cases, they are NOT hearing the Word of God spoken and taught on the previous Sunday, and in those cases, these Christians are following a poor shepherd and need to find a new church. But in those other cases, these people have just chosen to keep their old lives even though they know they should change.

But as lukewarm as those Christians are, there were the others. The ones that devoted themselves every day to the Apostles’ teachings. The ones who prayed together daily. The ones who had true koinonia. The ones who were going out and sharing the Gospel message with those who needed to know. These were the Christians who were Hot for Jesus. These Christians made up for the other ones. They were able to grow 100-fold. This is the Acts 2 church.

As we conclude our study on being an Acts 2 church, we should take a look at a couple of churches in history and, in fact, are on the Earth today. We need to look at Revelation 3 and read about the Church of Philadelphia and the Church of Laodicea. As we look at these two churches, we see the difference between the 83-percent and the 17-percent.

Revelation 3:7-21

First we read about the church of Philadelphia. We see that it is a church that is loved by Jesus. It was a real church back at the end of the first century but it is also a type of the church that exists in these end times. God always has a remnant ready to do His bidding and in these end days, it is the Church of Philadelphia. Notice that Jesus says that they have little strength but notice also that they are praised for not denying his name. Jesus promises to make the enemies of this church bow down before them when the day of Judgment comes. He promises that they will be raptured up and not have to deal with the coming wrath.

Now look at the church of Laodicea. Notice that Jesus spits them out for being lukewarm. Remember, these are “Christians” being spit out by their Lord. Many in those days will say “Lord, Lord, did we not do all these things in your name?” and Jesus says “I did not know you”. This is the message to the Church of Laodicea. They think they are doing the right thing but Jesus sees into the hearts and he knows that they are not loving God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and that they are not doing what He desires but what they desire. Jesus tells them to change and to buy from him everything that they need. He tells them that he rebukes those he loves and tells them to repent.

The Church of Philadelphia is an Acts 2 church. They are doing those things that Jesus has called them to do. Jesus is the head of the church and the Lord of each person in the church. Jesus should be listened to when he speaks. Are you listening? Are you hearing the word preached every week and then going about your normal routine? Or are you like the good soil, the 17-percent, that hears the word and lets it change who you are, what you do, who you know? Are you part of the Acts 2 church that is reaching out to others, being in the Bible every day, praying together several times a week, and becoming a family, a community, a close fellowship. If you are, then congrats – you are part of the Acts 2 church and part of the 17-percent. If you are not, then the words of Jesus are loud and clear – “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him”

Send mail to david@TheArkNY.org with questions about the church or comments about this site.
Last modified: July 4, 2009