Who gets the leftovers?

I want you to imagine a group of people who are committed to seeing each other multiple times a week. They learn and grow together and as they are taught, they teach others. They eat meals together and build relationships with each other. They don't always see eye to eye but they compromise and work it out because they are invested in each other. The leaders of this group work hard to train and serve. To pass on the knowledge and skills they possess to better the next generation. They take their responsibilities seriously and spend countless extra hours serving and teaching so those who struggle can receive support. Everyone understands their role and everyone understands why this group exists. They think outside the box to come up with ideas and activities to successfully complete the task before them with excellence. The group will never opt out, they are 100% committed at all costs and use whatever resources they have to support the group and help its people. They are focused on relationships and growth while they serve with a common purpose.

We all belong to a group of people that we invest extensive time, energy, resources, and effort into so we can better the collective. Maybe it's your job, school, social group, or sports team. Whatever it is we are all invested in something and do whatever we can to better the group.

I teach at a small country school in northwest Missouri. Our town takes a lot of pride in their little country school and invests in their children. Practically the whole town shows up for a ballgame or a pancake feed to support a school club. Our class sizes are small, 10-15 students, and we invest our resources in their success because we believe in them, genuinely care, and want them to have the best quality of life possible. It's a beautiful picture of a devoted group of people serving to better the community and to support one another because they value the individual success of its members. I am blessed to be part of this group and take a lot of pride in this small country school.

This imagery of a group of people highly invested in one another exists in every town, city, and state. Highly invested people serving joyfully for the betterment of others. What group comes to your mind? Maybe the group of people that comes to your mind is your local school or your high school football team. If so, these entities understand the importance of taking care of one individual so the whole team can be successful. Whether it is your school, job, sports team or club I hope the image that came to mind first is the church. 

The church should be a group of people who invest in one another. In Acts we see a pure and powerful example of what the church should be like. I want you to imagine a group of believers who were focused and had a common goal. They understood their purpose and what was truly important. They didn't think about themselves first, but thought about the needs of others. They craved scripture and Biblical teaching and devoted themselves to prayer and cultivating a relationship with Jesus. God was powerfully at work in them and because they were devoted to the design of the church, no one was in need. They brought everything they had all their resources, time, energy, and effort to be used for Christ through the church. They understood what was important and found their identity in being a Christ follower. The church accepted them, welcomed them in and began to teach and disciple each member so that they could teach and disciple others. The crazy thing about the early church is it started in a upper room with less than 150 members and by 70 AD the church had converted over 1 million people in the midst of extreme persecution.

I wonder. How does the church fit into our lives? If we looked at our week, what activities and relationships consume the bulk of our time? Do we crave scripture and devote ourselves to prayer? Do we give God the best of what we have or do we give Him what is left over? If I'm honest with myself, these questions make me uneasy. The more I serve and share community with the church, it seems like my desire and need for the church grows stronger and stronger.

The things of God work that way. When we allow the Spirit to work in our lives, study God's word, and pray throughout the day the things the world values, we tend to value less. Our priorities start to become centered on how we can serve others and less on how we can serve ourselves. The things we schedule in our day that are not focused on Christ and His plan for our lives, seem less important. We become uneasy with our daily routine and priorities so we find ways to evolve and change to make Christ the focus in everything we do. As we weave His love and desires into our day to day routines this beautiful image of a group of believers living, growing, and giving starts to become a spiritual force in the community. True change begins to take place when we allow God to work and we strive to portray Biblical community in our churches.

As I watch sweet Stella sleep and I think about my family and the community that I love. I celebrate the uneasy feeling I get because it convicts me to think and evaluate myself and my priorities. I celebrate the groups I belong to and the people I call friends. As I go about my day to day routine, I celebrate the opportunities it brings to show Christ to others. I celebrate the model God gave us in Acts 4 and I take comfort in knowing with Christ it is possible to grow a small group of devoted into millions of faithful Christ followers when seeds are planted and allowed to grow. May God cultivate His churches and build in our communities a spiritual force that can transform the nations one encounter at a time.  

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales  and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
~ Acts 4: 32-36