Circuit Thoughts

As I was doing my morning devotional, I came across the description of the early church in Acts 2:42.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to breaking of bread and the prayers”. I know I have read this before, but it struck me as to how simple church can be.

We live in an age where we seem to accept that better means more complicated. It seems that every time my phone or computer updates, it gets a little more complicated and less user friendly. I (I know I am now considered old) remember a time when you could work on your car without diagnostic equipment. It seems that now everything is less user friendly and more prone to breakdown.

Even our church services seem to have gotten over the top complicated. I know in the churches I serve; we have more going on than what they describe in Acts 2. At the one church we have slide shows and recorded music. I know for other churches there are whole worship teams involved in different aspects of the service. In fact, for some churches the service is more of a performance rather than a worshipful time in God’s presence.

Yet, I look at the 1st century church. All they did was:

Listen to and learn the Apostles teachings.

Break bread together

Fellowship

Pray.

As simple as all that, the word of God spread across the known world. There was no light show or questionable praise songs. There were no gimmicks and no tricks. It was the simple word of God. The teachings of the Apostles are what is in the New Testament today.

Look, I’m not trying to put down the more elaborate services, they serve a purpose. What I am trying to advocate is maybe a return to a simpler means of sharing the message. Sharing the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ shouldn’t be that complicated. Offering Christ to others shouldn’t either.

And let’s face it. Wouldn’t it be nice just to simplify and slow things down a bit? Wouldn’t it be nice to sit and bask in the teachings of the Apostles and the presence of God? Wouldn’t it be great if we could just break bread together and enjoy each other’s company? Wouldn’t it be nice just to kneel and pray together?

Maybe, now is the time to meet with your church leaders and look for a way to simplify our approach to God’s message. I truly don’t believe we need complex light shows and special praise bands to share the Good News. I am not against them, but they can muddle up the works.

God’s word is meant to be simple. Confessing and believing is all we truly need to be saved (Romans 10:9). Church is meant to be a means to get closer to God. The more we complicate the sharing of the word, the more stumbling blocks we make. So why not keep it simple.

That’s something to think about, and I hope you do.

I’ll see you in church.