A Picture Of A Great Church Series

Introduction

When you think of a great church, what comes to mind?

We live in a day in which there is a lot of confusion over this question.

Many churches are a reflection of our society which has become satiated with entertainment.

Neil Postman, in his profound book titled, Amusing Ourselves to Death, wrote:

Toward the end of the nineteenth century… the Age of Exposition began to pass, and the early signs of its replacement could be discerned. Its replacement was to be the Age of Show Business (Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death [New York: Penguin, 1985], 63).

In show business, truth is irrelevant; what matters is whether we are entertained.

Substance counts for little; style is everything.

In the words of Marshall McLuhan, “The medium is the message.”

Unfortunately, that kind of thinking now rules the church as surely as it does the world.

One of the most bizarre examples of a well-known church confused about its role in the world came from a May 13, 1991 article in The Wall Street Journal.

The article described the church’s attempt “to perk up attendance at Sunday evening services”:

The church staged a wrestling match, featuring church employees. To train for the event, 10 game employees got lessons from Tugboat Taylor, a former professional wrestler, in pulling hair, kicking shins, and tossing bodies around without doing real harm (R. Gustav Niebuhr, “Mighty Fortresses: Megachurches Strive to Be All Things to All Parishioners,” The Wall Street Journal [13 May 1991], A6).

Seriously? The staff members may not have been harmed. But what kind of harm was done to the church of Jesus Christ?

I don’t know the name of the church that pulled this disgraceful stunt.

One is tempted to think that it took place in a church with only a handful of people in attendance.

However, this stunt took place in one of the five largest churches in America at a Sunday evening service.

Sadly, far too many evangelical churches in the United States find less than biblical ways to enhance attendance at their services.

Some assert that so long as the Bible is preached, then the medium does not matter.

That is utter nonsense.

As John MacArthur aptly notes:

If an entertaining medium is the key to winning people, why not go all out? Why not have a real carnival? A tattooed acrobat on a high wire could juggle chainsaws and shout Bible verses while a trick dog balanced on his head. That would draw a crowd. And the content of the message would still be biblical. It’s a bizarre scenario, but one that illustrates how the medium can cheapen and corrupt the message (John F. MacArthur Jr., Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993], 69).

Too many church leaders believe that to win the lost one must attract them with some form of entertainment.

Dr. Harry Reeder used to say, “If you win people by entertainment, then you are going to have to keep them with entertainment.”

I could go on with other examples, but I must stop.

What does a great church look like?

That’s the question I would like to answer today.

I suggest that we find a picture of a great church in Acts 4:32-37.

Now, this was not a perfect church, for in the next pericope which we shall study next time, we shall see that there was sin even in that church.

Nevertheless, Luke, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has given us a picture of a great church in Acts 4:32-37.

Luke told us that the first-century Christians were turning the world upside down (see Acts 17:6).

The first-century church was exploding with growth.

Three thousand people were converted on the Day of Pentecost and added to the church (Acts 2:41).

Within two or three months, according to most commentators, that number had swelled to at least five thousand people (Acts 4:4).

God was blessing the church with extraordinary growth.

What was the reason for the growth?

Scripture

Let’s read Acts 4:32-37:

32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.