“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2.42)
My last communiqué focused upon the Lord’s Supper as part of the four-fold discipline of the community life in Acts. I would like to continue that discussion, focusing upon what I call the “common life”, also called “the fellowship”. (I take this term from New Testament theologian, Tom Wright.)
First we need to point out that the structure of this verse indicates that these were four, interrelated activities. The Greek language here bears out that all four disciplines were practiced together. They were inseparable. Literally, we could say, “They devoted themselves both to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.” The structure of this verse indicates the united nature of these activities.
What we refer to as the “common life,” (ie, life in common) is the Greek word koinonia. This is a lovely and frequent word in the New Testament. Essentially, it refers to sharing, mingling, participating together. It is used when speaking of someone sharing possessions, having fellowship, as well as spiritual union.
Koinonia was evident in the Early Church because of their strong understanding of salvation. As individuals, we have been saved into the Body of Christ. We are not various monadic units who happen to attend the same church building. When we were united to Christ in baptism, we were also united to each other. This understanding often runs counter to our cultural understanding of salvation. We often think of it as an experience that secures my place in heaven – now that I have my ticket, I need to do the minimal requirements to keep it. As long as I keep my relationship with Jesus, everything else is ok.
While it is correct that God saves individuals, we must remember that he saves them into a community. As the poet John Donne rightly observes, “no man is an island.” This why the New Testament uses the imagery of family, body, nation, and living temple to refer to the church (Romans 12.5; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 2.19-22; 1 Peter 2.9-10). Each of us belongs to the greater whole. A Christian that was not united to the greater whole was not a concept understood by the New Testament Christians, for a Christian was part of the people of God.
This is why the “common life” was such an important practice. They learned together how to share life with each other. Here I must confess that I am at a bit of a disadvantage. Our contemporary culture does not lend itself easily to the “common life”. This is a discipline that we must learn and practice together.
I admit that I am not sure what it looks like in our context, nor exactly how to accomplish it. I am certain, however, that it looks like a lot more than bumping into each other for a couple of hours per week on Sunday morning! Even more so, I am also committed to learning and experimenting and practicing it.
What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts? What are some ways you think common life among us should look? What are some things that we can start in order to get down that road?
I look forward to hearing from you!
