The second characteristic of the early church is there was no real backing. No formal organization, no finances per say, and no buildings. Christians weren’t even allowed to own buildings in the Roman Empire until the end of the second century.

Actually, this proved a great advantage as this kept Christians extremely mobile, and it kept Christians from being tied to their buildings or identified by their buildings. The other religions of the day had their temples, which took tremendous upkeep, and which were treated as sacred ancient monuments. No, the Christians held jobs and then after work preached on the streets and prayed and connected in their homes. Low maintenance, high flexibility.

The third characteristic of the early Christians is they are international and cross-cultural.

Jews, Gentiles, Romans, Samaritans, Asians and Africans pulling together and working together. Males and females are working side by side. This is all highly unusual in that day.

There are slaves and free, there are highly educated and no formal education people.

This cross-cultural and international emphasis prevented the gospel from being identified with any particular nation or cultural pattern. This didn’t allow any cultural imperialism. “Our way of being the church is the best.”  No, this new movement went everywhere and included everyone.

A fourth characteristic of the first Christians is their cohesion. They shared life together and provided family for everyone. And because they were so mobile, their hospitality was legendary.

They showed the unbelieving world that to be the church of Jesus is to show the love, compassion, and joy of Jesus.

ME

When the Bible speaks of the church, it is all the gatherings of Christians in the city, not an individual congregation. How do you connect with Christians in other congregations?

The book, Thirty Years That Changed The World, by Michael Greene is a great resource concerning the early Church. 

What kind of people were the first Christians?

A first characteristic of the early Christians is there is no hard distinction between the clergy and the people who aren’t clergy, called the laity. Even the words for “clergy” and “laity” kleros and laos are spoken of as the whole Christian community.

Other religions had priests, gurus, holy people, those who are set apart and higher and more advanced than others. Not Christianity. At least not in the first two centuries. This is how it was from the beginning.

We notice Jesus doesn’t pick one Jewish priest or rabbi to be his apprentice. In fact, after Jesus ascended to heaven, two of his key leaders do not have very strong credentials according to their opponents.

Acts 4:13

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were illiterate and uneducated men, they marveled. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Great, if you are illiterate and uneducated, you too, can be a Christian leader! No, not really!

But even after 200 years, writers were saying things like this about Christians. I quote…

They have no altars, no temples, no priesthood. The altar was a cross. Their temple was the whole body of believers. Their priesthood was all Christians.

The Christians differed in terms of gifts they used and functions within the church. There were leaders. But, it was a one-class society. This has greatly changed over the last 1500 years, especially. There usually is a sharp distinction made between those who “minister” and those who don’t.

There are a lot of reasons this is not helpful. Probably the most basic is that all Christians, not just some, are called to serve God. The church is not a theatre, it’s a training camp. Y’all have to have skin in the game, not just the pastor, if Jesus is going to use us to continue to expand his influence.

ME

What is your favorite way to serve God and love your neighbor?

The people who collected the books of the Bible and put them into one book, are at least partially to blame. In Christian tradition, there has always been a heavy emphasis on Jesus, and rightfully so. So when they put the four gospels, books that record the life and teachings of Jesus, together in the Bible, they put the books in order as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Only problem is that the gospel of Luke doesn’t actually contain the whole book Luke wrote. Luke’s writings were separated by these early editors into two parts. Luke had it as one book, in two parts. The part that deals with Jesus and his followers until Jesus ascends to heaven was called the “Gospel of Luke,” by there editors.  But they arbitrarily separated the other part of Luke’s book, and called it something else. Not the Gospel of Luke Part One and Two. They called the rest of Luke’s book, “The Acts of the Holy Spirit.” And then to make matters even more confusing, later editors gave this section of Luke’s book, another title. “The Acts of the Apostles.” No wonder we are confused about the Holy Spirit!

But, why didn’t the preachers at least fill us in on all of this?

Welcome to the traditions of churches like Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist and others, who started using something call a Lectionary, that told them what passages from the Bible to read on Sundays. First, the whole Bible isn’t even included. Only the parts of the Bible they put on this list are studied and preached upon for centuries. But, wait a minute, it gets worse. Because these same Christians have always overemphasized the Gospels when reading the Scripture. OK, I get it, these are the books that cover Jesus most directly. But, if you don’t know the other writings, you really don’t have the full picture of the Bible. Today in many churches, the preachers continue to preach mainly on the Gospel lesson.

So, here we go…Good luck hearing much about the Holy Spirit from Gospel-only preachers. You see, the Gospel of Matthew only mentions the Holy Spirit five times, the Gospel of Mark mentions the Holy Spirit four times. the Gospel of John mentions the Holy Spirit four times. At least the Gospel of Luke mentions the Holy Spirit 13 times. But, if the people who put the Bible together properly so that Luke and Acts appear as one gospel, like it should have been, then Alleluia! we would know who the Holy Spirit is!

You see the Holy Spirit is all over the Book of Acts, or “Acts of the Holy Spirit,” as it is rightly titled. The Holy Spirit is mentioned 45 times in Acts!

That’s only 12 times fewer than Jesus is mentioned!

So, why am I making such a big deal about this? I’ll tell you why. The only way we can know Jesus is through the power of the Holy Spirit. The only way we can live the life of Jesus is by being filled by the Holy Spirit. So, if you don’t know the Holy Spirit, well, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, we have a problem.

Jesus said the only reason he is able to do the things he did is because he is filled with the Holy Spirit. And Jesus said we will be able to do even greater things. Why? Because he is sending the Holy Spirit to us!

Consider what happens when God’s people share the same spiritual expectancy that God is showing up, and then live their lives in a climate of expectation and trust that he will continue to show up. In other words, consider what happened after that first Pentecost!

ME

What parts of the Bible are you most familiar with? Read the Book of Jeremiah.

Monday June 5

On Pentecost we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit who fills the new Christians with his power and sends them out to live their lives as Jesus, expanding his influence in the world around them. Since the gathered people of God are called the “Church”, this event, about 2000 years ago, is called, the “Birthday of the Church.”

But, Pentecost doesn’t end there.

There are many examples of the Holy Spirit pouring out over his people and amazing transformation coming about. Whole movements in the church like the Reformation of the 1500’s or more recently the worldwide explosion of churches who have a heavy emphasis on the Holy Spirit in the last 100 years. Or smaller, yet just as amazing, Pentecost-like changes that have perhaps happened in your own life. When you were filled by the Holy Spirit in a fresh way.

You see, expansion of God’s Kingdom, God’s influence, is a Holy Spirit thing.

You may come from a church background where there is a strong emphasis on the person of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s influence in our lives. But, this is not the case in many Christian communities around the world. Churches may not have emphasis on the Holy Spirit at all. Or he is spoken of in a non-personal way. Or the Holy Spirit is likened to some kind of mysterious spirit or life force of the cosmos. Kind of with a Zen Buddhism vibe.

Yes, it appears in some families of the Christian family tree, the Holy Spirit gets the short end of the stick when it comes to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Even the non-Christian world does’t give the Holy Spirit any respect. I have pointed this out before, people will curse using the name of Jesus or the name of God, but no one is out there saying, “Holy Spirit!” when they are surprised, angry or hit their thumb with a hammer!

“Holy Spirit, that hurts!”

This is all compounded when teachers of God’s Word, in some church traditions, have confusion over the Holy Spirit. In fact, the Holy Spirit wasn’t talked about much at all.

You can tell when someone doesn’t understand the personal nature of the Holy Spirit. Jesus always uses the pronoun “he” when he speaks of the Holy Spirit. So, today, if you hear or read a teacher or theologian who speaks of the Holy Spirit and uses the pronoun “it”, or if they call the Holy Spirit a “thing”, well that is a huge clue they really don’t get him.

For example, just recently a leading Lutheran teacher of preaching is quoted as saying this,

“The Holy Spirit is something we trust, not something we understand.”

Really? Wrong on two levels.

First, because we can be filled with the Holy Spirit, we can understand. Not everything, but many things. And second, calling the Holy Spirit something, well my red flags go up, and that has nothing to do with Pentecost!

If you have a personal relationship with someone and someone else calls him or her, “it,” how does that make you feel? Try talking to someone about his wife and use the pronoun “it” and see how that goes. Not, “Hey, how’s she doing?” But, your wife, hey, how’s it doing? No, there are too many Christians who don’t understand the Holy Spirit.

ME

How much did you think about the Holy Spirit when you were young?

John 21

20 Peter turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who also leaned against His bosom at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray You?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”

The disciple whom Jesus loved is John. Why is Peter concerned about him?Probably for a couple of reasons. 

First, Peter and John both play significant roles in key events in the life of Jesus. For example, they are central figures at the Last Supper, at the arrest and trial, and in the resurrection accounts. 

Yet, as we will soon learn, now they will take very different paths.

And second, it is normal for Peter to be concerned about John. After all, they have been living side by side in the life of Jesus these last years. So, when Jesus tells Peter he is going to follow him to lead his sheep and to meet his death as a martyr, it isn’t unusual that he ask if John is going to go down a similar path. 

But, they will both learn what we learn today. God does not make mistakes when he calls us to follow him. There are times we are confused and maybe envious when we look at other Christians. We may even wish we could have their call! 

But, we continue to learn that to follow Jesus, we are following where he leads us, not where he leads someone else.

There are places out there in the world that you are called to influence. Territory that has your name on it! 

It’s not about being the most gifted or the biggest, whether we are talking about Christians or Christian churches. 

This becomes a serious problem. Christianity today is always looking for the next superstar pastor or leader to follow, apparently because Jesus is not enough!   

Yes, Peter wants to know about John. As if to say, “If I am going to suffer and be brought to a place I don’t want to go, then what about John? What’s going to happen to him?”

Jesus will have none of this thinking.

ME

What is the influence of our celebrity culture on the Church?

John 20

“Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you desired. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 He said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. When He had said this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”

Jesus invites Peter to take his place as leader in the new Christian community. Jesus begins with the key reason for Peter’s leadership-  Because he loves Jesus. This is so basic to Jesus’ understanding of why we follow him. We follow him because we love him!

Then Jesus gives Peter the core command of what he is to do. “Feed my Sheep.” 

Peter must have been like, “I can do that!”

But then Jesus brings a somber reality to Christian life. Peter will suffer as he leads. Even more specific in Peter’s case, he will follow Jesus to his death. 

“Truly, truly I say to you…“Follow Me.”

So not everything has changed with the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Followers will still suffer and die.

ME

Did you ever think that being a Christian means everything is great in your life?