Gallup Research recently reported that of the 67 percent of American adults raised in church, only 31 percent of them are still attending. That’s less than half! This saddened me because I understand how life changing it is to live life within a healthy, caring church community.
Being connected to a healthy church is like being connected to a healthy family. We’re surrounded by people who understand and implement what I call the ABCs of solid relationships. They’re aware of what’s going on in our lives, they believe in us fully, and they’re committed to caring for us through every season. These ABCs cause our homes and churches to stand strong against every strategy of the enemy.
The first century church understood this. It’s why the Apostle Paul, one of the prominent leaders of the first century church, wrote verses like Ephesians 2:10, encouraging us to see every person as a masterpiece created by God and on an earthly mission from Him. It’s also why in 1 Peter 4:10, Peter instructed every person to use their gifts within the church community to draw others to Christ.
These men recognized what another man—E.M. Bounds—acknowledged about the Church. He said: “What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better [machinery], not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men (and women) whom the Holy Ghost can use… The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men…”
The Church’s best sermon is its people! People who understand how to care well for their fellow believers.
Acts 6-7 offers characteristics of caring communities. First, they love God’s work. The Holy Spirit’s work through the disciples caused the first church to explode, and they realized they could no longer care for the people alone. So they chose a man named Stephen, “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:8) to help carry the load.
Caring communities also exhibit godly leadership. Religious leaders grew upset with Stephen’s testimony but failed to deter him because of how strongly the Holy Spirit worked through Him. In Acts 7, he demonstrated godly leadership by bravely standing up to the leaders trying to divide the church.
This leads to the last point: caring communities live with gumption, resolving to reach every person for Christ. Acts 7:51-58 tells how Stephen closed his message by rebuking the leaders. He didn’t do this to be mean, but because he cared. He was aware they needed salvation, he believed in them, and he remained committed to them understanding that Jesus is the only way— even when that commitment led to his death.
Friends, God’s heart is that His children would care for each other well. So together, let’s determine be the Church Jesus died for—the one the gates of hell will not prevail against!
