Are you SURE you want “the first century church”?
By Elizabeth Prata
It is always surprising to me when I hear people say “I long for the first century church…” They met in homes, broke bread together and praised the Lord with one voice. (Acts 4:32). They think that the first church was purer, better…somehow more holy.
It’s human nature, I suppose, to look back and through sepia colored memories suppose it was all better then. For my own self, I do look back fifty years at the 1960s and 70s and enjoy that I got to roam all over town safely, play outside till the street lights came on, attended school events and football games without passing through a bag check or metal detector. So, I understand.
Our memories do tend to gloss over the less palatable things and see the past with rose colored glasses. It’s that way with viewing the church in the first century.
Yes, the Roman Christians were allowed to worship without government interference (for a while). Yes, some of them at Jerusalem personally had experiences unparalleled in future church history such as Pentecost, or seeing Jesus’ or the Apostles’ miracles. But we need to be careful what we wish for. Yes, the Lord’s presence was more palpable. But…
We read this in Acts 5:4b-6
“Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.” And as he heard these words, Ananias collapsed and died; and great fear came over all who heard about it. The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.
As is our normal tendency to remember only the ‘good’ like the miracles, we forget the ‘bad’ such as Ananias who was killed outright IN the church gathering in front of witnesses! Sapphira was also killed outright. Slain dead right there!
In 1 Timothy 1:6, we read, “Some people have strayed from these things and have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.“
Wow. The ‘things’ they have turned away from are love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, verse 5. ALready they were turning away?! Worse, they seemed like experts because they speak confidently, but knew nothing. Pretenders like this are such a danger to the church and to individual Christians! They existed in the 1st century church.
1 Corinthians 3:1-4 observes that there were factions, jealousy, strife, immaturity, and carnality. That is a lot of wrong in just 4 verses!
In 3 John 1:9-10 we learn that there are enormous problems caused by one man, Diotrephes. John is coming for him to charge him to his face of being prideful, rebellious toward elders, uttering malicious slander, wrongful excommunications, and refusals to meet with people.
The first century church had its ups but it had its down, too. Just like our churches do today. It’s because the church is made up of sinners. Some forgiven and genuinely converted, others unknowingly not converted, and still others, spies and enemies. What a mix.
The 1930s comedian Groucho Marx famously said upon the occasion of his resignation from the Friar’s Club, “I wouldn’t join any club that has me as a member”. The line was reflective of his desire to bow out gracefully without hurting the other members’ feelings, but was interesting too. Our prideful human nature wants exclusivity. We want to be highly thought of in others’ eyes. Normally, people want to join clubs that are highly selective, which is the point of a club. Marx’s comment implies that any group that accepts him is intrinsically flawed.
Like a church! No a church is not a club, it’s the opposite! How? A church accepts ONLY people who are intrinsically flawed. Our depraved nature makes it so. We are forgiven by Christ after we repent, but our sinful nature still exists. It did in the 1st century church and it does today. We all stumble into church as amazed sinners, forgiven of our sins and hopeful of future release from this burden of our flesh.
Now it’s true that some churches are better than others. The Corinthian church struggled, the Thessalonica church did not struggle as much. The church at Antioch was considered an exceptional church. The church at Laodicea made Jesus want to vomit. If someone says ‘I wish I was in a first century church’ ask them if they want to be vomited out in Laodicea.
All churches are composed of humans; sinful, struggling humans on a sanctification path to glory, eventually.
The famous saying: “The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints” has been kicking around forever, begun in part by 4th century church father St. John Chrysostom, finalized and popularized by the 20th century newspaper advice columnist Dear Abby, but either way, it’s true. Hospitals are full of sick people, each with their own disease or ailment. All with the desire for and on a path to wellness.
Our desire in church similarly, to stick with the hospital metaphor, is to grow healthier souls and to pursue holiness.
Parts of the first century church are to be emulated, other parts are a cautionary tale. Don’t let sepia colored memories or rose colored glasses tint our understanding of what the church is and who we are as forgiven sinners. They had their issues, and we do too. We also have praises. Any ‘issues’ are due to us and all the praises go to Jesus, the Head of His church, both in the First century and now.
