Imitating the original assembly
I was reading an old book on the history of the church. I noticed that the assemblies (churches) throughout history all tried to model the apostolic assembly found in the book of Acts.
So why do we today have churches attempting to model past assemblies in history instead of the apostolic assembly? Or worse, attempting to “modernize” (secularize) or “improve” upon it in order to make it more palatable for unbelievers?
It reminds me of a point that George MacDonald brought out in one of his books.
Paraphrasing his point in my own words:
The light from the moon is secondhand, and is never as bright as the sun. So is the person who only ever listens to what others tell him of Scripture, rather than going to the Father of lights, Yahweh, to reveal it. If we go to Him to receive the light, how bright our light will be!
A copy of a copy cannot be as good as copying the original directly. We ought to copy the original source.
It is true that Paul said, “Imitate me…” in 1 Corinthians 11:1, but it is what he said afterward that makes the difference. “…just as I imitate Messiah”.
Imitate Yahushua, and yes, what you see of Yahushua in others.
That would include imitating what Yahushua established through the disciples for the assembly.
How does that actually look in a practical sense? I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I’m certain we can agree that welcoming the world to change the church isn’t the answer. The assembly of believers should be impacting the world with the good news, not catering to carnality of the world.
I’d also submit that looking at the apostolic assembly and how Yahushua and his disciples lived is a better starting point than looking to church fathers for the answers.
Contrary to popular belief, declining church attendance may not be a bad sign after all.
To quote what I once read in a forum and thought was a great perspective:
Before God can raise up a true revival He must let “religion” die.
It was religion that dragged Jesus to the Cross.
Satan seeps in and over time and finds ways to transform established churches, churches that began well, into dead none breathing entities. Organizations that hold a claim to their past glory according to their founding years.
I have said many times that science was the study of how God did things.The problem with mankind is people get a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of understanding and they get puffed up with the yeast of knowledge never acknowledging the truth.
Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Remember the parable that Lord Jesus told of the wheat and the tares? This what we see happening in the Church, but you need the discernment of the Holy Spirit to understand that some in the Church are wheat, and some are tares. That is why it looks like some are leaving the faith.
I regret that I didn’t also save the name of the person who wrote this. Sorry and thank you to the author.
Perhaps (and I pray it is so), this is just the beginning of a revival of truth: a return to the original assembly and the good news of Yahushua the Messiah.