“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 NIV)
It probably began on my first trip to the African continent—getting a taste of really good coffee. Kenya AA, if my memory is correct. I have loved coffee since I was a young teenager. I remember staying up late on weekends, after my parents had gone to bed, and sneaking into the kitchen to make instant coffee. I did it secretly because our doctor had told my mom it was bad for me to drink coffee at my age.
As I grew into an adult, I drank lots of coffee, and all of it either Folgers or Maxwell House, the most popular blends sold in America. And, as I learned later in life, it was very weak coffee, but everyone drank it that way because that was the way it was served in restaurants and homes. No one knew there might be better coffee out there or a better way to brew it.
But then I visited Kenya and got a taste of a better coffee. And through the years, I tasted various coffees from Rwanda, Haiti, and Honduras, and developed a taste for better and stronger coffee, to the point where I now can hardly stand the poor, weak coffee of my youth, which is still served in many places across our nation. Years ago, I became acutely aware of the difference between good, strong coffee and the poor, weak kind, and I decided I would never be satisfied with the latter again.
I have also found the same thing at work when it comes to the fellowship of believers. Many are satisfied with the fellowship of Sunday mornings around coffee and donuts or bagels, and talking about yesterday’s game, the weather, or the latest world news. That is what they know and they have never tasted anything different. But there is a fellowship that is so much deeper and more satisfying than what most of us are experiencing. It is the fellowship experienced by those early believers in the 1st Century. It is centered on sharing together in the Lord’s Word, in His goodness, in prayer, and in living life together, loving one another as Christ has loved us.
Once you have experienced this, you know the difference. Many churches offer “fellowship dinners” and “fellowship hours,” and they may promote many activities as means to “good fellowship,” but an honest assessment of these is that most serve up poor and weak fellowship, nothing even close to that of the New Testament church. And, if you have experienced the latter kind, you can immediately tell the difference.
Unlike coffee, it is harder to find that rich and strong fellowship. In fact, it is rare. In our ministry, we are trying to change that. Every week, students gather in small groups to eat a meal together and discuss the Scriptures, its application to life, and to pray together. This is rich and strong fellowship and we want them to develop a taste for it, to the point of not being satisfied with the vast offerings out there of the other kind.
Today, consider the fellowship that the early believers experienced. Are you experiencing anything close to resembling it? If not, then seek it out with like-minded believers who are weary of the weak version served up by so many churches. Like good, strong coffee, once you’ve tasted it, you won’t want to return to the poor, weak kind.
© Jim Musser 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment