Whenever I read Acts, specifically Acts 2:43-47 and 4:32-37 I am struck by the disparity between the way the disciples were living and what we try to pull from these passages with our 21st century Western hermeneutic. We pull out ideas like meeting together and evangelism, but there is so much more going on in these passages, and it has a lot to do with all of Luke/Acts!
I think we are seeing Incarnational Living happening in these pages. The believers are choosing to act like Jesus. That is what Acts is showing us! It is about hospitality even when you are not the host. It is about giving more than you are able. It is about loving others in the nitty-gritty areas of life, where we are in close proximity with others who will occassionally, if not often, bother us. It is the choice of self-emptying, epitomized by Christ himself (Phil 2:5-9).
In Acts we see many miraculous signs and wonders, but it seems to me that the most amazing sign of the Holy Spirit at work is the individual lives that are changed as the community of God is empowered, enlivened, and enlarged. The humility, the love, the choice to give up their possessions to help others, these are the signs of the Spirit working in that community. These are the same signs that I dream of seeing in the church today.
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1 comment:
So, what kind of church body does it take in order for us to see this incarnational living in 2005?
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