Living Like the First Church

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42 NKJV).

The dictionary defines the word “steadfastly” as persistently, consistently, with conviction, unwaveringly.  And within that definition we get a glimpse of the groundwork that established the first century church.  Their lives as believers were not an “add on,” but the main thing.  They were serious about the study of God’s Word, the gathering of the saints together, breaking bread, and prayer.  Their faith in Christ became the fabric of their existence.

It is only in our American society that faith is compartmentalized.  That’s not the case in other cultures.  When someone is a Muslim, that is what identifies them as a person.  If they are a Buddhist, that is not just what they believe, but who they are.  Any Jew living in Israel considers their faith to be why they are Israeli, not because of the location on planet earth they happen to live.   Yet in this Country, may people consider themselves Americans first and Christians second.  We identify ourselves by our Country rather than our Creator.  It is why we are able to separate out what we learn on Sunday from what we do on Monday.

The Bible tells us that we are sojourners and pilgrims on this planet.  That earth is not our home.  How different would our lives look and our decisions be if we gave our faith the proper place that the first church gave their faith?  If every choice we made were based upon the reality that we are believers in Jesus Christ, perhaps we could make the kind of impact on our world that the first church made on theirs.

Today, I need to consider my Christianity “steadfastly.”  I need to grab hold of the truth that Jesus is not just my religious choice, but He is my very identity.  I need to live as a Christian who lays down her life, not as an American, who is all about getting ahead in life.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5-8)