by Francis Chan
THE FELLOWSHIP
As the Spirit of God empowered the Church, they devoted themselves to the fellowship. They had a dedication to one another that would be impossible unless God was in their midst. This is not something to take lightly. In fact, the whole next chapter of this book is devoted to this concept. So let’s pause on fellowship and move on to the next element.
THE PRAYERS
Do you remember the last time you gathered with believers just to pray? Or is prayer something you do only before you eat or something your church does only when it needs to transition out of the sermon while the band walks onto the stage?
Would you say that prayer plays any meaningful role in the life of your church? If prayer isn’t vital for your church, then your church isn’t vital. This statement may be bold, but I believe it’s true. If you can accomplish your church’s mission without daily, passionate prayer, then your mission is insufficient and your church is irrelevant.
The early church devoted themselves to prayer. They knew they couldn’t exist without it. If God didn’t come through, they could never fulfill the mission He had given them. So they were constantly on their knees together.
“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”
Acts 4:31
In Acts 4, the early Christians had just prayed for signs and wonders and boldness. Immediately after, the ground shook and they left in boldness! Don’t you at least want to try this? Don’t “church activities” sound pretty boring in comparison? How can we read about the experience of the early church as they prayed and then settle for energetic services? I believe there is something deep in you that would love to pray intensely with like-minded people, hoping to see a supernatural response.
A BETTER EXPERIENCE
God commands the Church to be devoted to His Word, to fellowship, to the Lord’s Supper, and to prayer. Why? Because God desires His people to experience Him. He who is infinitely greater than anything we could ever imagine—the Creator of the universe—desires intimacy with us. He has given us a road map for seeking and finding Him, and we have forsaken it because we think we have better ideas. Can you see how absurd that is?
Our job is to reveal God to people. He is present in His Word, fellowship, Communion, and prayer. Rather than creating our own pep rallies, our calling is to simply put Him on display and watch as He draws people to Himself. If they are not interested in Him, what do we think we’re accomplishing by trying to lure them by other means? We have to accept the fact that not everyone is interested in God. We just need to make sure that it’s really God we are putting on display. Otherwise we run the risk of people attending our services who have merely fallen in love with us.
THE PARTY
I asked my daughter how many kids would come to her birthday party if all we offered was cake. No games, no entertainment. They could come to the house to spend time with her and bring gifts to celebrate her, but we wouldn’t have anything else for them. She thought for a minute and said, “Maybe just a couple.” Then I asked her how many would come if I rented out Dave & Buster’s and let them have unlimited tokens, food, and prizes. She laughed and said confidently that the whole school would show up.
So let’s say that for her birthday party I rent out the arcade and her whole school comes. They’re all going nuts, having the time of their lives. Imagine if I pulled her aside during the party, put my arm around her, and said, “Look at all the people who came to be with you!” Would she actually believe those people were there because they love her and want to spend time with her? Or would my comment actually be insulting?
Isn’t this basically what we do with God? We have learned that we can fill church buildings if we bring in the right speaker or band. Make things exciting enough and people will come. We say, “God, look how many people are coming because they love being with You!” But do we really think God is fooled by this? Do we think God is pleased? He knows how many would show up if it was just Him. He knows there might be only a few if all we offered was Communion or prayer.
Most of us do this out of good motives, I think. We are just trying to get people to show up to His party. But based on everything you read in Scripture, does that seem like what Jesus would want? Again, if God had it His way, would He really want a bunch of churches desperate to entertain? Or would He want to be the reason people were coming, even if that meant a much smaller number of people? On top of that, are we sure what Jesus is looking for is well-attended church services? Our current models seem directed at this and little else. Mike Breen said, “Most of us have become quite good at the church thing. And yet, disciples are the only thing that Jesus cares about, and it’s the only number that Jesus is counting. Not our attendance or budget or buildings.”4
In the book of Malachi, God’s people had become bored with worship. God’s response was not mild. As the prophet Malachi called them back to the passion, devotion, and sacrifice of true worship, the people responded by saying, “What a weariness this is” (Mal. 1:13). They saw worship not as an honor but as an obligation. Today we’d respond to this by saying, “Look at how bored they are! Let’s make worship more exciting; then people will really get something out of it!”
But God’s response was much different. He was so offended by it all that He would rather they simply shut the whole thing down.
“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.”
Malachi 1:10–11
Stop the game. Shut the doors. This whole thing is an insult (see 2:3).
Years ago, my friend from India drove me to a speaking engagement in Dallas. When he heard the music and saw the lights, he said, “You Americans are funny. You won’t show up unless there’s a good speaker or band. In India, people get excited just to pray.” He proceeded to tell me how believers back home love Communion and how they flock to simple prayer gatherings. I imagined God looking down on the earth and seeing people on one side of the planet gathering expectantly whenever prayer was happening. Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, people show up only for the most talented people and the “atmosphere.” It’s embarrassing.
David Platt echoed this: “I am also struck by our reliance upon having just the right speaker and just the right musician who can attract the most people to a worship service. But what if the church itself—the people of God gathered in one place—is intended to be the attraction, regardless of who is teaching or singing that day? This is enough for our brothers and sisters around the world.”5
Just as God said through Malachi, there will always be those who will worship Him wholeheartedly. He’s not desperate.
However, it is His desire for all His children to experience the fullness of Him through the Church, and He has given us His Word to show us how.
Let’s dream of trembling believers on their knees, speechless because they grasp the weight of speaking to Yahweh. Let’s picture small groups and large crowds coming with eager expectation, just to pray. This is possible, even in America.
Dream of people going house to house to take Communion. Some spontaneously bursting into tears, others bursting into song, no one indifferent. One person praises God for His sacrifice, imagining the Father’s pain as Christ’s blood flowed. Another sits speechless, stunned by the intimacy of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Another shouts for joy as he experiences the complete cleansing of his darkest sins.
Dream of groups that tremble as Scripture is read. People are on the edge of their seats, giving God’s words the honor they deserve. It matters littl
e who is reading. It is the Bible they find riveting. Explanations are given when needed, but people are mainly listening for truth so they can repent and worship.
Dream of true fellowship where people are living in perfect harmony with God and one another. A picture of Eden where God and humans are walking side by side. Christ is at the center of all relationships; picture Him bringing together people who are very different as they marvel at Him together, as they do in heaven.
4
THE GANG
We live in a time when people go to a building on Sunday mornings, attend an hour-long service, and call themselves members of the Church.
Does that sound shocking to you? Of course not. This is perfectly normal. It’s what we grew up with. We all know good Christians go to church.
But have you ever read the New Testament? Do you find anything in Scripture that is even remotely close to the pattern we have created? Do you find anyone who “went” to church?
Try to imagine Paul and Peter speaking like we do today: “Hey, Peter, where do you go to church now?”
“I go to The River. They have great music and I love the kids’ program.”
“Cool. Can I check out your church next Sunday? I’m not getting much out of mine.”
“Totally. I’m not going to be there next Sunday because little Matthew has soccer. But how about the week after?”
“Sounds good. Hey, do they have a singles’ group?”
It’s comical to think of Paul and Peter speaking like this. Yet that’s a normal conversation among Christians today. Why? There are so many things wrong with the above conversation I don’t even know where to start. The fact that we have reduced the sacred mystery of Church to a one-hour service we attend is staggering. Yet that’s the way I defined it for years! I didn’t know anything different. It’s what everyone did, so I didn’t think to question it.
LET’S GO TO GANG
Think about it this way. One of the elders of my church, Rob, spent most of his life in gangs. He encountered Jesus when he was imprisoned and placed in solitary confinement. Today he is one of the most loving people I know. In fact, I’m not sure I know of anyone who loves Jesus and people as well as he does.
Rob tells me stories of gang life and the fear he felt when he left his gang to join the body of Christ. To do this in prison can be suicidal; he had to make a serious break with his gang, and gangs are anything but casual about breaking those ties. But the Lord intervened to spare his life. It wasn’t just the physical torture or death he feared; he dreaded the rejection by those he loved. The gang was his family. These were loyal and dear friends who looked out for him twenty-four hours a day. There was a love and camaraderie from being in a gang that he had enjoyed since childhood. Now he would lose those relationships and be hated by them all.
When Rob describes gang life, much of it sounds like what the Church was meant to be. Obviously, there are major differences (drugs, murder—you know, little details like that), but the idea of “being a family” is central to both gang life and God’s design for the Church. Yet while we use family terminology in our churches, Rob’s stories have convinced me that the gangs have a much stronger sense of what it means to be a family than we do in the Church.
From what you know about gangs, could you ever imagine gang life being reduced to a weekly one-hour gathering? No group would meet briefly once a week and call that a gang. Imagine one gang member walking up to another one and saying, “Yo, how was gang? I had to miss this week because life has been crazy!”
We all know enough about gangs to know that’s ridiculous. Yet every week we hear Christians asking each other, “How was church?” Something that God has designed to function as a family has been reduced to an optional weekly meeting. And this has become normal. Expected. How in the world did we get here? Any gang member will tell you his homies have his back. They’re there for him. They’re loyal, committed, present. Meanwhile, in many churches, you have about as much of a connection to the people who are supposedly your spiritual family as you would to someone who visited the same movie theater as you.
SUPERNATURAL LOVE
Is it just a nice cliché to say the Church should be like a family? I mean, it’s a great thought, but our families are our families! Does God really expect us to be this close with people we’re not related to, people we wouldn’t even choose to be friends with? I agree that it’s natural to be close with your family and unnatural to experience this with people who are not like you. But that’s exactly the point! It’s not supposed to be natural—it’s supernatural!
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34–35
One thing the New Testament makes clear is that the Church is supposed to be known for its love. Jesus says our love for one another is the very thing that will attract the world. But can you name a single church in our country that is known for the way its members love one another? I’m sure you can think of churches known for excitement or powerful preaching or worship or production value. But can you name a church known for supernatural love?
When the phrase “one another” is mentioned over a hundred times in the New Testament (love one another, care for …, pray for …, admonish …, etc.), why is it that you can’t think of a single church known for the way they take care of one another? God clearly cares about this. Why don’t we? As elders at Cornerstone Church, we asked ourselves whether people would notice supernatural love when they walked into our gatherings. It was not that we were void of love; it just didn’t stand out. Honestly, the love in our midst was a far cry from anything that we could attribute to the Holy Spirit.
At this point, some of you are probably thinking, Well, that’s Francis’s experience with his church. I’m actually part of a very loving congregation, probably more loving than what he experienced at Cornerstone. It’s possible, but you need to know that Cornerstone was a very loving church, as far as American churches go. We really enjoyed being with one another, had some good small groups, and served the poor in our area and around the world. We were a very nice and kind church, and we definitely witnessed some Spirit-inspired acts of love. With some notable exceptions, we just weren’t experiencing what we saw in the Bible.
As elders, we weren’t content to just love people better than the church down the street. We were looking for biblical love. Our love felt too similar to the love we received from coworkers and neighbors. Sometimes we are too quick to label our church experience as “Christian love.” Jesus made it clear that even sinners know how to love one another (Luke 6:32–34). Haven’t you ever worked in a restaurant, joined a gym, or bonded with other parents at your kids’ sporting events? Is the love you experience in your church really that different? It’s supposed to be.
Jesus said, “As I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34). Our King, who allowed Himself to be tortured and killed for us, tells us to love one another in the same way. Have you ever even considered loving a fellow Christian as sacrificially and selflessly as Christ loved you? When was the last time you looked at a Christian brother or sister selflessly, wanting to bring him or her life no matter what the cost?
Think of a few of the people in your church. Picture their faces. Now think about the lengths to which Jesus went to bring those specific people to Himself. Think of the whippings He endured so that they could be forgiven. Imagine the way He thought of each of those people as He hung on the cross. No sacrifice was too great; there was nothing He would hold back. He did everything necessary to redeem and heal and transform those specific people.
He did the same for you. So ask yourself, Who does God want you to pursue? Who could you desire to spend time with more? Jesus went to the ultimate extent for them; why would you hold anything back? Jesus pursued those people from heaven to earth to bring them into
His family; what barriers could hold you back from pursuing a deep familial relationship with them?
We have experienced the greatest love in the universe. Shouldn’t that profound love flow out of us? And shouldn’t that be enough to shock the world?
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”
1 John 4:7–12
Did you catch that? Right there is a promise that if we love one another, God will abide in us and His love will be perfected in us. Is there anything in the world you want more than that? We don’t live like this statement is true. And that breaks my heart, because there is also a serious warning in this passage that those who don’t love don’t know God. What does this say about our churches? The importance of loving one another is emphasized all throughout Scripture (Rom. 12:9–10; 1 Cor. 13; 1 Pet. 4:8; etc.), and I can’t help feeling as if we’re missing out on something extraordinary because of our lack of love.
SUPERNATURAL UNITY
When Jesus was approaching the cross, He prayed a fascinating prayer. This prayer was for His disciples, and some of His statements have really challenged my faith.