In the entire history of the Church of Jesus Christ there can be little doubt that the most dynamic and evangelistic period existed in the church of the first century. It would do us well to study their actions to see why that zeal they possessed has dissipated over the centuries and how we can rekindle it. One thing, however, we can say with certainty is that the first century church and our present day church have one thing in common – both have the Holy Spirit dwelling within its members.
On the surface one would expect our modern day church to be at a decided advantage when it comes to understanding the nature and the will of God. We today have the entire Word of God to read, while very few believers in the first century even had a portion of the Scriptures to meditate on. Word of mouth had to be relied upon instead of the written word by and large.
Today we have concordances, topical Bibles, sermons on inspired teaching on the internet, Christian radio and television, books on every topic imaginable pertaining to the Christian faith, far greater leisure time to read our Bibles and pray, and far less persecution in America than back in the then Roman empire.
With all of these incredible blessings the church in America today should be the most dynamic force in all the world. Instead we see a very disunited body of believers, where strife rather than love often rules the day.
I believe that the reason this apparent contradiction exists is that the early church understood and applied the incredible motivational dynamics that exist in the word togetherness. We may understand some of these dynamics today but we fall far short in the area of application.
When God made man and woman He designed us with a need for fellowship, not just with Himself, but with one another. Just as we need food to allow our physical bodies to function properly, our relationship with God for our spiritual well-being, we need fellowship with one another to nourish our emotional make-up and strengthen our motivational character.
(Mark 6:7) is a fascinating verse that is much more than just an evangelistic teaching. It reads: “And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs; and He was giving them authority over the unclean spirits.”
Now does this verse mean that when we go out to witness we should always go with another person? There is nothing wrong with going out by yourself in many instances, but the point I feel the Lord was trying to show His disciples was that there is far greater power when we go out together with another believer. And this concept applies to almost every area of interpersonal communication and relationships.
For example, we intellectually know how to witness, but for many of us we have an emotionally much harder time carrying out what our minds tell us to do. To personally bring this point home I have seen an incredibly different witnessing zeal on my part when I go out with another believer rather than going out by myself.
When I have gone out by myself to hand out tracts on the street corner I often feel nervous, uncomfortable, embarrassed, and even sheepish. Sometimes I even have to psych myself up to witness. But when I go out with a partner I always feel bold, excited, comfortable, and full of joy. And there is rarely any need to get motivated for the group dynamic automatically provides the motivation.
But why is this so? In tomorrow’s part II of this devotion we will explore the power of togetherness in some detail.