Acts 2 Acts 17 and John 13

When I think of Acts 2, I think about the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Rarely do I consider the type of community it cultivated. The festival of Pentecost came 50 days after Passover (when Jesus was crucified). All the believers were gathered in one place in Jerusalem and then there was a sound that came from heaven and flames or tongues of fire settled on all the believers present as they began to speak in other languages. Devout Jews- Parthians, medes, elamites, people from Mesopotamis, judea, cappadocia, Pontus, asia, egypt and many other nations-were also present in Jerusalem and a crowd started to form around the believers as they spoke in foreign tongues. Some in the crowd ridiculed them, saying they were drunk. Peter, with the other eleven apostles stepped forward and preaches to the crowd. Peter's words caused about 3,000 people to be baptized and they were added to the church. God sets the stage for a community to be forged of the new believers. Acts 2:44 says, "And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had." (NLT emphasis added) I believe this includes the 3,000 new believers that were saved at Pentecost. Sciptures says they ate together, worshiped together, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. So, these 3,000 people who were once strangers to the believers were now selling their property and possessions to give to whoever was in need. Immediately the size of the church grew and seamlessly integrated these new believers. The Holy Spirit was the cement to this community.

Acts 17 also presents an interesting insight to the early church's community. Acts 17 is about a few of Paul's missions around the ancient world. In Thessalonica Paul and Silas began to preach in the Jewish synagogues. Some of the Jews became jealous and started a riot. The believers were dragged before the city council and forced to post bond. The entire city was thrown into turmoil by two men. That very night, Paul and Silas left for Berea. The people of Berea were more open minded and many Jews believed. Some of the Jews from Thessalonica heard news of Paul preaching in Berea and began to stir up trouble. As soon as the community of believers knew that the Jews were starting trouble, Acts 17:14 says, "The believers acted at once, sending Paul on to the coast, while Silas and Timothy remained behind." (NLT) What is remarkable about this community is its' ability to adapt. Scripture says they "acted at once" and sent Paul to the coast. There was an immediate action to reaction. The Jews had started trouble and in response, the believers sent Paul somewhere else. The final portion of Acts 17 talks about Paul preaching in Athens. Paul was deeply troubled walking through the city, as he saw many idols. He spoke daily in the public square about Jesus Christ and was confronted by some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. These philosophers brought Paul before the high council of the city. There they discussed Jesus and the resurrection. Some men laughed, while others believed. This community was very public and open about sharing the latest ideas and philosophies. They were ready to debate and discuss any differing opinions.

Finally, John 13 presents Jesus washing his disciples' feet. He says, "And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet." (John 13:14 NLT) This seems backwards to me. Normally, I feel like people in lower authority must serve those in higher authority. But here Jesus, the Son of God, is washing the feet of these mere humans. This community of people is the community closest to Jesus. This community is very much a mentoring community; Jesus is discipling his disciples. They look to Jesus for everything- wisdom, protection, guidance. A true community sees Jesus Christ as the only worthy mentor.

I feel if we are ever to find a clear picture of what community should be, the Bible is the only place we need to look. After going over those three chapters, I cant help but compare the community of the early church to communities we see nowadays. I think that today's communities have small aspects of the early church's community. I think that today, people with similar beliefs meet together. Often times, entire neighborhoods can be composed of an ethnic group or religion. I feel that, as a whole, communities in our time are selfish, rarely giving to those who are in need. It is very much an individualistic society. Something that was fairly common in these scriptures was public proclamation. Today, there are rarely unplanned public readings or acts of any kind. I think that part of America's culture is to be "politically correct" and being politically correct sometimes means not openly discussing religion. The early believers werent afraid to offend or shock people which is unfortunately the opposite of today's culture in most communities. While I do believe that certain communities have an idol or someone they try to be like (like a soccer team trying to be like a certain team or player) rarely is it Jesus Christ. In my opinion we should do anything and everything in a Christ-like way.