In 2008 there was a global financial crisis which resulted in a recession. At the center of it all was a Housing Bubble caused by years of low interest rates and easy credit. Many creative (and foolish) mortgage tools were developed and widely used. When the bubble burst, some of the largest banks and investment firms in the world faced bankruptcy. Many people lost their homes, and in some places, whole neighborhoods became like ghost towns. As the whole world worked to recover from the devastation of this crisis, there were many who said that we needed to return to the basics of banking and financing. Everyone could now see the failure of all those ‘creative new ways’ to finance huge purchases, and all saw the need to get back to the old-fashioned way of doing things. For example, one of the old basics of banking used to be that if someone wanted to purchase something as large as a house, they would be required to pay some money down, perhaps even a large amount of money. In fact, it was said at one time that loans were so tough to get that the only ones who could borrow money were those who didn’t need to. That wasn’t good for the economy. But to go to the opposite extreme of easy credit and no money down, though fun while it lasted, could not work for very long. So, in order to rebuild, we had to get back to the basics.
I am not an expert in economics, so that is all I will say about that. But the advice to get back to the basics is good advice in many areas of life, including the church. To get a good look at basic, bottom-line Christianity, the best place to look would be the New Testament. In the first chapter of the book of Acts, Jesus leaves his disciples and ascends into heaven, promising that the Holy Spirit would be sent to them. Chapter two describes the day of Pentecost, ten days later, when they were all “filled with the Holy Spirit” (verse four). A large crowd had gathered (verse six), and Peter preached to them the very first sermon of the new Christian Church (verses 14-40). Verse forty-one then tells of the terrific response to his sermon, reporting that 3,000 people believed and were baptized that day!
Now what? They had an instant congregation of three thousand people, but there was no paid staff, no budget, no building, and no books or seminars on church growth and management techniques. There were twelve well-trained volunteers, so that was something. But in starting from scratch like that, they were forced to stick to the basics. The very next verse (v. 42) tells us what they did: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Simple. And it must have worked. Chapter two ends with these words: “The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” There are many other descriptions of the early church in the New Testament and other early Christian writings, and we should pay attention to what they did because most churches today are not “adding to their number daily those who are being saved.”
As we look at these early gatherings of believers, we see some similarities to our congregations today, and we see some huge differences. On the one hand, we see people meeting together weekly; sometimes more often, but certainly every Sunday. But we do not see them meeting in a church building. The early Christians always met in borrowed spaces. For a brief time, they met in Jewish synagogues, when available and when permitted to do so; other times they met in homes (see Acts 2:46). Then later, because of sporadic persecutions, they had to meet in secret; in forests or in underground burial caverns called catacombs. They had no church budget and no paid clergy, but they did take offerings for the poor. They had a close community that would bear each other’s burdens, but they had no formal membership rosters or directories or official records. Many of the things congregations now spend a great deal of time on, were not even thought about in those ‘basic’ early church days.
I am reminded of a scene in one of my favorite Bible movies. It was a made for TV miniseries called Peter and Paul (1981). Like most movies inspired by history, this one got several things wrong; but overall, it got most things right. It did a tremendous job of portraying the Christian church in those earliest years, as seen in the ministries of Peter and Paul.
One unforgettable scene was of an early worship service. A group of about forty believers had gathered in a wooded area outside of Rome. The Emperor Nero had been arresting and killing Christians in one of the most violent of the early persecutions, so they were worshiping in secret. The small congregation was hoping that a special guest speaker would be with them that evening. The great apostle Peter, that disciple so close to the Lord Jesus, had recently arrived in Rome, and word was that he might be there for the gathering. It was an interesting scene because of its simplicity, and, because how they worshipped was so similar, in all the most important ways, to what Christians still do each week. The congregation gathered, they greeted each other, they did a bit of singing, they prayed, and they heard some Scripture read. Then, they heard a message (sermon) from Peter, who did arrive. Finally, they were dismissed with a benediction. It was a very different setting, and yet, a very familiar routine. It is by such worship that the church has lived and survived and passed on its message of salvation from generation to generation for the last twenty centuries. (continued…)
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