Stop Idolizing Contextual Community

I’m always intrigued when people reference the second chapter of the book of Acts for a qualitative definition of Community. I agree, it’s a good description of Community/a Community.

In fact, it’s a good description of life and faith in general.

But it’s a little romantic to speak as if that’s what our Community must resemble or it’s not “real community.”

Because we don’t live in the 1st or 2nd centuries.

We don’t live in nor fully understand the social and communal context and climate that the first century church lived in (in particular the Jerusalem-centered context that the famous ending to Acts 2 was referencing).

Even our word for “community” does not ring the same bell for us that it rang for them. For us to talk about community and 1st century Middle-Easterns to talk about community are two completely different exercises.

Pretending like they are the same is an adventure in missing the point.

We need to stop idolizing their relational expression of living out the Gospel in the first century.

We need a recovery of the Gospel as a relationally healing agent that makes us more loving, just, humble, peaceful, gracious, and merciful. It is the enabling of our salvation. The empowering of transformation.

The 1st century Christians didn’t share everything because it was the prescription for Community. They did it because, in their environment, it was the appropriate expression of the Gospel in the midst of broken-but-hopeful people.

People who were learning to trust God even though it hurt.

Even though it was scandalous.

What’s our prescription for that scandalous, painful, loving grace’s invasion?