Are you Being the Church?

 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.  Acts 2:42-47 

Imagine if you were born to parents who'd been stranded on a desert island.  You've had no contact with the outside world except for what they've told you.  They have a few things salvaged when they were stranded, among them a bible.  You read about the God of the bible, Jesus, the Church, and have no influence from society about these things.  One day, your family is finally rescued and brought back to the States. 

Would you recognize the church as it is today?  Would it look like the church you'd read about in the bible?  The early Church that is described in the Word is not the one that we see today.  They shared their belongings, took meals together, and didn't just meet on Sunday.  They didn't come together for a few hours of Praise and Worship followed by one guy getting up and sharing a few words from the bible.  No, they met in the temple every day.  Every day. 

How humbling it is to see what we've made church into today.  Instead of being the Church, we do church.  If I'm not mistaken, I think God intended us as His followers to be the church.  Wherever we are, because we are His ambassadors, there the church is also.  May we be reminded of the simplicity of the Acts 2 church.  May we strive to be that way again.