Reflecting on that 'earliest church' one may discern that they were considerably changed by the experience of Pentecost. They actively practiced the first gift and fruit of the Holy Spirit, which had been given to them. We might say that they exemplified the two Great Commandments. (To me this the gospel in its pristine simplicity.)
To know these commandments and to value them highly one is "not far from the kingdom of God". To practice them as actively as they were said to be one is living in the kingdom of God; one is in a heavenly place.
An Acts II church? Yes, it's most likely to be small, sufficiently small that the members know one another intimately; such knowledge is a necessary prerequisite to the ability to practice the kind of love they were doing. (Of course Luke says 3000 were added after Peter's sermon, but I suspect that may have been over a significant period of time.)
We all have needs that will not be completely met until we encounter the kind of love those people demonstrated, which means in effect that we all will continue to be needy-- until we encounter an "Acts 2 church"!!
2 comments:
Might these kinds of communities be a start towards real life 'Acts II' churches?
Hey, Zack, that link is great. They mentioned one of the communities in D.C. I wish I could find out something about it. We've going to D.C. in April to see family (and also renew friendships at the Church of the Savior. At that church they have made a concerted effort to ameliorate and serve the poor and homeless, but I don't think to the point of living with them. When we were there in the 70's, they were a well cleaned middle class group of gifted people trying to help the poor.
They have now divided into a hundred other churches or so, and numberless ones who took that name.
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