Many have written that this life laid out in Acts 2 is 1) not for us today 2) not possible today, or 3) only attainable in heaven. According to an article on faithwriters.com by Gary Sims, many in the Christian community believe:
Things were different then. There is no way we can experience this type of life-style today. We live in a different world. We have to pay bills and a complexity of issues to survive.
Our ministry rejects all three notions, and believes that the Acts 2 Life is not only possible, but attainable. In fact, it is the desire of God that we live this way as followers of Christ. We have a moral obligation to God, to ourselves, and to others to live a sanctified lifestyle. A recent blog I read from a missionary from Iowa, who works in Cambodia, stated:
"Community is a popular buzzword in evangelical culture today. It seems no one really has it, but about everyone wants it.”
That same missionary writes that after a few weeks in Cambodia with fellow missionaries he understood what they must have experienced in Acts 2. I know that I experienced it one week on a youth retreat. We all kept feeling the sense of awe spoken about in Acts 2, and I can honestly say that I had no sinful thoughts that week. These experiences prove that what God says in scripture is for us and it works. The bible says that we are to conform not to the patterns of this world, but that we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Our ministry takes this and all scripture seriously because it is the inherent infallible Word of God. In the scripture I spoke of above, what patterns is the verse speaking of? We believe there are systems that the world has set up and certainly ways of thinking that are ungodly and ultimately lead man to destruction. The bible describes this as a system of lust, greed, pride, envy, malice, and so on. We do recognize that we live in a fallen world and that no system will be perfect until Christ returns; however, we believe that there is a lifestyle that Christ has desired for man to live that is better than what most are currently living. That life and that community is found in Acts Chapter 2, verses 42-47.
Upon much study, we have broken these verses into 7 components. These are the 7 components of the Acts 2 Life Organization.
The seven components are prayer, praise and worship, wisdom, signs and wonders, fellowship, sharing, and growth.
PRAYER
In verses 42 and 46, we see the church daily continued in one mind (in prayer) in the temple. Our members, if you will, strive to pray daily and often. We also pray with one another often.
PRAISE AND WORSHIP
Verse 47 says they were praising God and having favor. I believe this is the main component that led to unbelievers seeing and getting saved day by day. It is vital that our members meet in yards and each house to praise the Lord on a regular basis. It should not be bottled up in a building or confined house, but the worship should be on display for the world to see. That is how the first church grew so rapidly. There were no walls or barriers for people to see. They saw the Holy Spirit in action. House parties of praise are what we need. Not just a big church service in a dark building.
WISDOM
Wisdom is a reverent fear of God. In the first church, they “continually devoted themselves to the apostle’s teachings. Knowledge was lived out and used, which is what wisdom is. We have much knowledge in our culture today, but very little wisdom. For instance, a lot of people know what’s right, but they don’t do it. They know the stories of David, but they don’t tie the stories to their own lives. That’s the problem with an independent loner culture. Our church or organization strives to do life together, to be taught scripture daily, and to apply it directly to our lives. We also reject the way many churches use scripture to force an issue or church platform down someone’s throat. All scripture is infallible and should be taught and used. We believe in all the gifts of the spirit and believe they are for today and should be operating in the church today in all the ways described in scripture. We will not quench the Holy Spirit in our ministry for the sake of program like 90% of the churches do in America. We will be wise stewards of God’s word.
SIGNS AND WONDERS
I mentioned this somewhat under wisdom, but healings, miracles, and all the gifts operated freely and often in the first church. We proclaim that the same Holy Spirit that enabled signs and wonders then desires to do it now in the midst of his people. When our members meet, it should be something that everyone is amazed by and can’t wait to see. With this, there will be persecution from the world, but there will also be many saved as the evidence of the Holy Spirit is made clear. We also believe that the “sense of Awe” spoken of in scripture is real and relevant for today.
That sense of awe is a direct result of the Holy Spirit being involved in a ministry. And we should have a sense of Awe, a reverence for God, daily.
FELLOWSHIP
The Christian life cannot be lived alone. We see in verses 42 and 46 that the first Christians went from house to house, took meals together, prayed together, worshipped together, and shared their possessions so that no one had need. And on top of everything else, verse 44 records that they had all things in common. How do so many people have all things in common? It seems now that churches want to divide people and form small groups and clicks among separate interests or situations. For instance, my former church had a group called “divorce recovery.” Now I’m not making light of that situation, but could it be that such a group was there to support people committing adultery instead of exposing sin as sin. Obviously, there are situations the bible talks about where divorce is allowed, but much of the time those reasons are not in play when someone gets a divorce. Anyhow, back to the point. We should be joining under commonalities instead of inventing groups to divide and categorize everyone. Church is not a fun house, although Christians should have more fun than anyone. But fun should not be the main goal. Drawing each person closer to Christ should be the goal, as it was in the first church. That is what they had in common: a devotion and focus on giving it all to gain Christ. They were devoted to learning, to fellowship, to breaking of bread together, to prayer, to evangelizing, and to caring and sharing. And as it was in the first church, so shall it be in the Acts 2 Life.
SHARING
The sharing component of this ministry is perhaps the most unfamiliar to the modern day American Christian. It is also probably the biggest key to locking in all other components of the Acts 2 Life. So I will spend a little more time on this component. In verse 45 of Acts 2, it says, “they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.” Acts 4, verse 32 says, “the congregation of those who believed [in Christ] was of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. Now I am not advocating this system today, but I am talking about sharing and trading goods and services among believers. We should use a portion of our time and talents to meet the common needs among us. I gotta tell yah, when I grew up in rural Missouri, this mindset was the law of the land. Everyone owned farms and often shared tractors and equipment to help their neighbors. We never bought sweet corn, green beans, and other natural food at the grocery store because it was provided through family. My great Aunt and Uncle, provided us with sweet corn, lettuce, and the tastiest peaches since the ones in the Garden of Eden. My grandpa and grandma on my father’s side canned green beans and apple butter. That same grandpa made gallons of homemade vegetable soap and picked “cow weed” or turnip greens. Him and I would put vinegar on the greens and eat like crazy. My dad was and is a carpenter and can build about anything. So he provided sweat and long hours of labor when anyone needed and still does. The one thing my dad couldn’t do was plumbing. So guess what, my uncle Keith did the plumbing. Hopefully, you’re beginning to see a pattern. To better explain what the Sharing component of the Acts 2 life is, it’s better to start by explaining what it is not. We do not espouse to be another closed Christian community where everyone lives on the same property and only attends one central church. Now there’s nothing wrong with that in most instances, but that is not what we are about. We also do not want to limit everyone to buying or trading only what our church members offer, although we do hope to eventually be able to offer enough goods and services to take a large burden off of your budget each month. Finally, we are not a commercial business or a government agency trying to take money and disperse it to the poor. In fact we are trying to show everyone that they have more to offer than a minimum wage job. Believe me, I make minimum wage and I have more to offer. We simply want to create leverage among believers so that their work is fulfilling and gratifying at the end the day. Let me be specific. I do not believe in a quick and easy way to get rich, and I don’t even believe being rich financially is worth the stress. But I do believe in the Word of God; therefore, I believe man should work by the sweat of his brow. But I believe God wants our work, though it may be hard, to be fulfilling and fruitful. The problem is most of our jobs are not either one. What we want to do as a ministry is to form a body of believers (a church) that operates like my family did when I was a kid. I would grow, for example, tomatoes and chili peppers on a small piece of my land. My friend, Don, would grow something he likes to eat. Someone else grows or produces something else. And so on. It would not be limited to food. My wife, for instance, loves making jewelry and has even taken an interest in sowing. Well, believe it or not guys, I am an interior decorator and love designing almost anything. So I would love designing the clothes that she sows, as well as, draperies, pillows, and bedding. I have another friend that renovates houses. So he could, for instance, help build someone’s house, in exchange for other goods and services within the church. So that instead of someone using money they don’t have, they can trade what they do have. I can hear the nay-sayers now. So I’ve studied and listed the possible pitfalls of this system if anyone wants to email comments. But again, we are not advocating any of the following:
1) Quitting your job
2) Bumming off your friends
3) Giving us all your money
4) Quitting your local church and joining a cult
5) Buying a tractor
6) Selling your house and land and giving the money to us
7) Living off the government
8) Depending totally on the ministry for everything
WHAT WE ARE ADVOCATING
l) Live intentionally with a vision and focus on Christ
2) Follow the Word, which says, “conform no longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
3) Learn, Learn, learn how to be wise stewards
4) Get some leverage in your life
5) Share life together, instead of at home by yourself on the computer
6) Be financially free and use your treasures and talents for God’s will
SUMMARY
The Acts 2 Life is about all of these things and more. Without the seven components I’ve discussed thriving, this ministry will fail, like so many churches have failed for lack of vision. They have set the bar too low when God’s bar is higher. Most churches now are more interested in getting the right acoustical mix, setting the thermostat at exactly 70 degrees, and being seeker sensitive instead of preaching truth. Again, we are not contending that one should not go to church, but we do warn that church does not save and some don’t even come close. In fact, the mere word, “church,” has lost its meaning. It actually means “a body of believers” and has nothing to do with a building or facility. Our church; again, “body of believers,” derives our goals and system from the first church described in Acts 2. I would invite anyone interested in this ministry and ultimately this movement to read Acts 2, verses 42 – 47, with an open heart to God. May you prayfully and submissively devote your whole life, including your lifestyle and system of living, to Christ Jesus our Lord.
Founder Ryan Sharp
For more information, you may contact Mr. Sharp at
ryan@ acts2life.org
