Christianity began as a community
of Jewish people who received the Holy Spirit of God because
they believed that Jesus of Nazareth was God's anointed
One sent to the world so that those who were estranged from God
by their unwillingness to follow God's ways could be restored
to a relationship with God and receive eternal life, something
God had always desired for them from the beginning of Creation.
Not all Jews believed this and they worked hard to bring this
new group back into the fold. However, this was not going to
happen not even with the powerful Roman government persecuting
this new religious movement. Soon non-Jews, Gentiles and pagans,
were also becoming Christ followers and the Christian Church
was well underway.
Over the past 2000 years there have been many changes in Christianity
with one of the largest being Emperor Charlemagne making Christianity
the official church of the Roman Empire. With this new situation
soldiers became the primary missionaries as they carried the
word to new frontiers. Prior to this every member of the church
felt responsible for telling others about Jesus. This responsibility
needs to be recovered today.
Another major change was the Reformation in the 16th century.
Hoping to reform the Roman Catholic Church the Reformers actually
started another branch of Christianity known as Protestantism.
Various denominations of Protestants began in different countries
and eventually most of them had splits within them over a variety
of issues. Today there are so many varieties of churches and
fellowship groups it would be almost impossible to describe all
of them.
Because of this and other factors it may well be time for another
reformation with the hope that the church can recover its original
purpose. Presbyterians claim to be, "Reformed and always
reforming," but it must be asked what the standard for
reformation needs to be today. I would submit to you that we
need to go back to the very beginning of the Church to discover
that Christianity was always intended to be a movement on behalf
of a community of people who loved Jesus and each other. Christianity
was never meant to be an institution, for institutions by definition
are far too small to contain all that Christianity is meant to
entail.
The whole purpose for the existence of the Church is found
in one verse of Scripture, John 20:21. It was evening of the
first Easter. Jesus has just appeared to His disciples. He says
to them, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me,
so I send you." When He had said this, He breathed on them
and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive
the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins
of any they are retained." The Church, the body of Christ,
was established to seek those separated from God, forgive their
disobedience and restore them to a right relationship with God
and each other. As far as I know Jesus has never changed that
instruction. When we are attempting to follow this instruction
the Holy Spirit is seen as a powerful ally. When the Church attempts
to do anything less the Holy Spirit's power is lost to
the community which is why many individuals and congregations
have never really experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. Many
have forgotten, never realized or never accepted the basic truth
that the sole purpose of those who follow Jesus is to bring the
lost to Him. A congregation can do many wonderful things, but
if its first priority is not working to reach lost souls it has
failed to meet its primary purpose for existing whether it is
ultra liberal or ultra conservative.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to assist the followers of Jesus
in this task. Where a group of people engage in this work assisted
by the Holy Spirit Christian community develops. Each individual
becomes an important part of the body of Christ.
This community is characterized primarily by one thing, its
capacity to love. This loving is commanded by Jesus as a matter
of first priority, and it is enabled by the presence of the Holy
Spirit. It is only in this loving community that true freedom
is to be discovered. 2 Corinthians 3:17 states, "Where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
According to an article in, "The Church Messenger" 47/11
(May 26, 1991, p. 3ff) this liberation or freedom includes, "forgiveness
through repentance, freedom from self-centeredness, freedom from
injustice and social evil, freedom from death and freedom to
love others including your enemies."
The early followers of Christ, particularly the Jews among
them, continued to worship in the Temple. However, they also
met in each other's homes. They shared stories of Jesus
and stories of their work to bring others to Him. They ate together
and helped each other meet their needs. They prayed for one another
and for those they were seeking to save. They sang songs together
and joined in worship, and they shared the Lord's Supper
reminding themselves that Jesus was with them, that they were
forgiven and reunited with God and that they had Good News to
share with others.
We would do well to follow this model today for over the centuries
we have somehow strayed from it and in many instances have made
the Church something far less than Christ intends for it to be.
We need to have a way to be accountable to God and each other
in our journey of faith.
Those who wish to seriously follow Jesus need to be involved
in study, prayer, fellowship and service together. Small groups
who do Bible study and who pray with and for one another provide
the means by which we can mature in faith. Without this intentional
growth on the part of individual members the purpose of the church
is weakened and individual Christians to not get to experience
the power of a dynamic faith. In some extreme instances the Church
is reduced to being little more than a social club. This is not
what God wants nor is it being obedient to Christ's commands.
From the beginning Christianity was intended to be a dynamic
community of people who loved God, each other and those who are
still outside of God's Kingdom. Nothing could be more important
this Pentecost than for the Church to recover this identity.
If and when we do we will be as amazed by the power of God's
Holy Spirit as were the people talked about in Acts 2.
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