Whenever I read from the book of Acts, I am keenly convicted of the fact that this is God's MODUS OPERANDI for the church. I believe that not only was the book of Acts written to capture the birth of the Early Church, but it was also written as a stimulus for doing church! If we want to be effective as a church today, the book of Acts details the strategy that is necessary and even vital for us to follow.
One of the first things we will come to realize so far as the Early Church's effectiveness was that ministry and mission was not just a "Sunday affair". The church wasn't effective and impacting just because they had a nice temple and they met once a week on Sunday to worship. The "real" effectiveness of the Early Church was in it's life and ministry BETWEEN SUNDAYS! The genius behind the fact that "the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" was the utilization of each and every believer in full-time ministry no matter what their secular vocation.
Ministry was a "lifestlye". Ministry was not just a profession some within the Body had chosen. Ministry wasn't reserved soley for paid staff. Utilization of "each" believer within their "sweet spot" was the key. Utilization of each and every believer was not accomplished, however, by some attempt to fit the claims of Christianity into a certain mold or pre-determined agenda which the church had deemed practical. Effectiveness in reaching the community was not achieved by "bringing God down to their level". Utilization was accomplished as each believer in the early Church allowed themselves to be brought up to God's level!
The secret to their power and effectiveness in faith and mission was the infusion of the Holy Spirit in and through EVERY believer for ALL OF LIFE - not just church or Sunday life!
What made this infant church so dynamic was each believer's committment to LIVE CHRIST BETWEEN SUNDAYS. This became the vital difference between them just "having" church and "being" the church. LIVING CHRIST BETWEEN SUNDAYS became "the" strategy for reaching their community.
So how do we practically address the role of Christ in "our" lives between Sundays? Consider three critical imperatives:
Living Christ between Sundays must mean He BECOMES THE PREEMINANT AUTHORITY IN ALL OF LIFE. Jesus must dominate our lives and conversations not only during the moments of worship and prayer and preaching on Sundays, but also during each moment of every single day! The frank reality we must grapple with is that it is easy to make Jesus Lord during worship on Sunday BUT then digress into serving "other gods" during the week. Are we putting worldly pursuits, materialism or self-interest ahead of intimate relationship with Christ? Is our agenda void of some type of ministry/service involvement?
We can also mistake "church life" for the "Christ life". Do we come to church on Sunday just to learn how to better run our own lives for God OR do we come to better learn how to let "God run our lives"? Sometimes we tend to forget that the church is not just a conglomeration of buildings and equipment but rather the church is a "spiritual body" and God is far more concerned about having A PEOPLE FOR HIS BUILDING than having A BUILDING FOR HIS PEOPLE.
Living Christ between Sundays must mean that He BECOMES THE ANSWER TO ALL OF LIFE-not just CHURCH LIFE. Jesus was the master of ALL LIFE long before He ever came in human flesh to this planet. Psalm 91:2 declares: "Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God". Therefore we can never confine Christ to just "one day a week". He is the creator of ALL things and can never be imprisoned behind the walls of a building! He is the God of all times and places! We must conclude with Peter in John 6:68: "Lord [Jesus], to Whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!"
If we are going to ever be truly effective in reaching our community for the Kingdom of God, Jesus MUST become the MASTER OF ALL LIFE.
Christ must become LORD OF THE HOME between Sundays. Build and maintain the family altar. Teach your family that prayer and systematic study of the Bible and spiritual conversation are a three-fold cord of the family fiber that cannot be easily broken apart by the ravaging winds of this godless world system.
Christ must become the LORD OF OUR BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL LIFE. Let honesty and integrity, hard work and excellence tell those you work and deal with about the reality of Jesus Christ within our lives.
Christ must become the LORD OF OUR SOCIAL LIFE. Let our hobbies, recreations, etertainment, video rentals, and our satellite channel selections be so selected as to uphold the integrity of our witness of Christ MONDAY through SATURDAY - even when no one else may be watching.
Living Christ between Sundays must mean that SERVICE TO CHRIST BECOMES OUR PURPOSE IN LIVING. Remember why you were created: "You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things and they exist because you created what you pleased" [Rev. 4:11]. Our entire life must become a ministry and not merely an existence. Make your time, talents and treasure voluntarily available to Him. Invest your life and your resources in things ETERNAL rather than TEMPORAL. Become intentional in allowing Christ's life to be lived through you.
Is Christ the preeminant Authority in all of our life? Is Christ truly the answer to all of life that we live? Is service to Christ our real purpose in living? These are sobering questions but they are questions that must be honestly answered. And the answers must realistically reflect themselves throughout the fabric of our lives between Sundays!