Chillin With the Church--Acts 2

I am presently taking a class on discipleship at Liberty. For this class I am reading a book by Bill Hull entitled "The Disciple-Making Church." Although I haven't agreed with everything in the book, it has been a good read thus far. At one point in the book Hull talks about the importance of being committed to the church. So often when we talk about being committed to the church we emphasize the importance of attending the Sunday and Wednesday night services, doing ministry together, praying together, and things like this. Now, don't get me wrong, these things are important. However, one of the things that Hull talks about is the simple need for the church to just simply hang out. Luke (the author of Acts), in Acts 2, says, "They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts."

Look at what Hull says,

"The Jerusalem Christians had gotten beyond coffee and doughnuts; their conversation had bridged the treacherous chasm between the world, the weather, and work and cares, conflicts, and concerns. Because they spent large amounts of time together, eating, working, and playing together, they could make this crucial transition.

The Body of Christ needs to have enough fun together to set the stage for accountability and obedience. When a parent takes time to have fun with a child, he builds up relational equity that makes it much easier for the child to obey when friction occurs. The bond causes the child to say, 'Okay, I'll do that for you, even though I disagree.'

In the body of Christ, living and playing together smooth the way for moments when people must go along with tougher tasks required of the church.

I have found this true in one-on-one accountability as well. Here's the rule: if my accountability partner and I only talk about spiritual things and never hang out just for fun, it will ruin our relationship. Our relationship will become nothing but seriousness and rules. Folks, hang out time is so important for the people of God. Is church dull to you right now--does your time with the people of God feel stiff and over-serious? Try and practice some genuine hang out time. Invite some of your fellow church members over to your house to watch a baseball game, or have a Bar-B-Q, or go to a movie or something. Don't be afraid to talk about God, but don't be afraid to just hang out and have fun.

I feel that I must end by making it clear that I think one of the greatest problems with many of the churches in America today is that once the sermon is over the people of God simply stop their "God talk" because their spiritual duty is done. I don't want to downplay this problem. However, it is also a problem when we can only talk about theology. We all know people who only know how to talk about theology and the Bible. These sorts of people are unstable and are in need of realizing that God has made many things in this world for us to enjoy--yeah, enjoy together.

Before moving on, go back up to the top of this post and take a look at the picture of the grill with the food on it--this is what it means to break bread (in the Acts 2:46 way) in our present day context.