Healthy churches don’t happen by accident. Members and leaders of healthy churches know that there is a level of intentionality in prayer, in the Word, in spiritual disciplines, and in “one anothering” that must be present. In this series of posts, we are taking a look at the Jerusalem church in Acts 6:1-7. There, we can see an intentionality on the part of the apostles and the whole company of the disciples to repair the rift that could have ripped the church in two.
In part one, we saw how a healthy church is growing numerically (though we also discussed that there are some seasons in our churches today where that may not be occurring). The apostles were barely able to keep up with the rapid growth. So, in order to serve all of the disciples and specifically the Greek and Hebrew speaking widows without partiality, they began to organize. Part two explored the priority the apostles had to use their time in the ministry of the Word and prayer but not to the exclusion of practical ministry.
Now, we want to pick things up with the final two qualities of a healthy church revealed in Acts 6:1-7: reconciling and reproducing.
Quality #6 – Reconciling
This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch. 6 They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
Acts 6:5-6
The Jerusalem church was unintentionally overlooking a group of people in the church. In fact, it almost look like partiality or favoritism was being shown to those who spoke the predominant language in the city. Specifically, the Hellenistic Jewish widows were being neglected while the Hebraic Jewish widows were being well cared for.
I don’t believe this was intentional but when two or more languages are spoken things can get a bit messy. Though the gospel had not crossed over to Gentiles, this was the church’s first opportunity to cross language and cultural barriers and be united as one church.
By this point, Paul was not even saved yet, so the letter to the Ephesians was not in circulation. But look at how Paul later develops the implications and the outcome of the gospel in Ephesians 2:13-16:
But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.
Ephesians 2:13-16
Eventually, the gospel was going to spread from Jerusalem, to Samaria and Judea, and to the ends of the earth. Indeed, the “workmanship” or “masterpiece” that Paul highlights in Ephesians 2:10 that God is creating (by grace through faith) is not each individual Christian, but a blending and uniting of Jew and Gentile into one people. So, even though in Acts 6 the two groups are both Jewish, the need to remain unified across two distinct languages was crucial for the future expansion of the church. If they can’t show love and unity amongst Jewish believers, how will they ever have love and unity between Jews and Gentiles?
So, the apostles take action and along with the whole company of disciples seven names are put forward. The first thing that is remarkable about these names is that they are all Greek or Hellenistic names. Stephen is highlighted for his faith and eventually the narrative will follow him as he goes and speaks the gospel in the Freedman’s Synagogue (presumably speaking Greek!)
In Jerusalem, the Temple was the primary place of worship, but the presence of at least one and perhaps other synagogues for other languages reveals that the Jews had no problem dividing over cultural and linguistic preferences. Not so in a healthy church! The Seven who are chosen have a primary task of uniting the whole company of disciples whether they spoke Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic. Their secondary task was to serve.
Complaints can quickly lead to dysfunction and division. But members and leaders of a healthy church will find ways to reconcile differences and answer complaints with gospel integrity.
Quality #7 – Reproducing
So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.
Acts 6:7
The final quality of a healthy church can be seen in verse 7 but also in chapter 7 and following. The unity of the church has been preserved. Reconciliation between the Hellenistic and Hebraic Jews has occurred. And Stephen, one of the Seven chosen to serve, is about to be the instrument the Lord uses to push the Jerusalem church out into Samaria and beyond.
The explosive growth of this one church may not be replicable in every local church, but the pattern of growing and then reproducing should be more common in healthy churches.
In verse 7 we see that the disciples “increased greatly in number” and that “a large group of priests became obedient to the faith”. This even greater influx of new disciples couldn’t be measured (at least in Luke’s telling of it). But now that this Jerusalem church has some practice in growing, serving, organizing, preaching, praying, and reconciling, it’s time to reproduce.
This reproduction came at a cost. We read later that the apostles stayed in Jerusalem but many fled the city because of the persecution that arose due to Stephen’s martyrdom. Philip is the first to be known as an “Evangelist” and his story of bringing the good news to Samaria is told in chapter 8.
The massive numbers of people in the Jerusalem church are eventually scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. We aren’t given any further updates about the growth of the church in Jerusalem. But the rest of Acts describes the expansion of the church according to the words of Jesus in Acts 1:8.
As we examine the essential qualities found in the early church it becomes obvious that healthy churches reproduce healthy disciples who start healthy churches. As we read these verses and look at the 7 qualities of a healthy church, where do you find areas of strength and areas of weakness in your church?
Healthy churches reproduce healthy disciples who start healthy churches.
Nathan creitz
Let’s ask the following questions:
- Are we growing in numbers and/or in spiritual depth and in spiritual disciplines?
- Are we mobilizing our members to serve? Are they finding joy in serving?
- Are we designing helpful systems and processes in the church in order to better care for our members and our neighbors?
- Are we prioritizing the ministry of the Word in all forms? (preaching, evangelizing, teaching, and counseling)
- Are we praying personally and corporately?
- Are we seeking forgiveness and reconciliation with our brothers and sisters when complaints arise?
- Are we envisioning a day when we will reproduce and spill over into other neighborhoods and nations for the glory of God?
If you missed the other articles in this series, be sure to check out part one and part two. And please share your insights in the comments below before sharing this post with others. Thanks for reading!