It’s all about “together”!I have heard this verse preache...
I have heard this verse preached, I have studied it, I have read it several times…and yet with all of that I have managed to miss how powerful it is and how “communal” it is.
Looking at a few of these words we see:
- apostle’s teaching: these are the teachings of those that walked with Jesus and saw how He lived His life, they would share stories of the time they spent with Christ and bring those stories into the current day in attempt to help them all grow together in the body of Christ.
- fellowship: they gathered together and wouldn’t others keep them from gathering together, it was both an verb and a noun - they fellowshipped and were the fellowship.
- breaking of bread: this is simply the activity of eating together, but think about what happens in those times that we eat with others…we share stories, we share life, we laugh, we cry, we commune, we talk….we are doing life together and I believe that this practice of breaking bread really got into this transmission of life at a deep level.
- prayer: again a verb as well as a location…they prayed together and they did so in the place of prayer, in the presence of God.
All of these actions run deep…they are a part of the daily life of these believers. Now look at the first part of the verse…this is what is often missed - they devoted themselves to these actions:
The word devoted here denotes perseverance, constant, and to be earnestly moving towards something…together. But it goes deeper than that, this idea comes from root words that communicate pressing forward in steadfast power!
Think about that for a moment, they are pressing toward something together and it gives them strength and power as they do this together. These actions aren’t simply boxes on a spiritual task list that need to be checked off in order to attain today’s portion of holiness, these activities gave the early church strength, power, togetherness and caused them to be devoted to each other.
The church is missing this today, we have made it too simple for people to come in and sit, soak and sour (nod to my bible college days). They sneak into their seats, listen to a sermon, sing a few songs, shake a few hands and then walk back into life to go on about their days. I think Jesus meant for there to be so much more to it than that. I long to find something that is so much more powerful and meaningful than that…I long to find a fellowship of believers with whom I can do life and press forward together in strength and power for the Kingdom.
