tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14696592.post6046853273309217152..comments2024-03-20T17:04:44.789-05:00Comments on Westing Peacefully: A Typical Assembly of Christians in the First CenturyKent Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04419374220761564120noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14696592.post-9888159131748928952012-08-12T20:58:53.296-05:002012-08-12T20:58:53.296-05:00When we see assemblies in the book of Acts in whic...When we see assemblies in the book of Acts in which sermons dominate, they're mostly for the non-believers. When the assemblies are composed of believers, there seems to be less emphasis on one person dominating the meeting with a sermon and more of an emphasis on everyone making a contribution.<br /><br />Still, even with the sermons, they tend to be short, and interactive. For example, Peter's first sermon in Acts 2 only takes two minutes to read aloud, and is a back-and-forth conversation wherein the people speak, Peter responds, then the people respond, and then Peter responds again. We see the same conversational back-and-forth when Peter and John are brought before the courts in Acts 4, again when the apostles are brought before the Sanhedrin in Acts 5, and again when Stephen gets into disputations with the people in Acts 6:9. When Saul was converted, he didn't preach sermons to the Jews, but rather "conversed and debated" with them (Acts 9:29). When Pharisee Christians came to Antioch, Paul and Barnabas did not sermonize to them, or to the congregation there, but rather "engaged them in serious argument and debate" (Acts 15:2). When Paul and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem, they gave a report and then the Pharisee Christians there had a chance to speak (Acts 15:5), which led to much debate (v. 7), with different speakers taking turns (vv 12-14), just like we see elsewhere (Acts 11:28; 1 Cor 14:31). (By the way, this illuminates the lie that there were no "denominations" in the first century church - there was a sect of Christians who identified themselves as Pharisees, who still kept the Mosaic Law, although such law-keeping was not bound on the non-Pharisee sect; yet they were united ("unity in diversity") with the larger church of Christ.) "As usual, Paul ... reasoned with" his students (Acts 17:2), rather than speaking at them for long periods. When Paul spoke at the Areopagus, again, we see an interactive discussion (Acts 17:18, 32). When Paul met unbelievers in Corinth, he "engaged in discussion" with them (Acts 19:8); when he met with believers, he "conducted discussions" with them (v. 9).<br /><br />The point is not that sermons were never long and one-sided (see, for example, Acts 15:32); the point is that long one-sided sermons were the exception, whereas we've made it the rule, and have virtually eliminated the practice of open discussion and contribution by all, which seems to be the way things were done in the first century.<br /><br />Perhaps it's time for us to work some more on restoring the first-century church....Kent Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04419374220761564120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14696592.post-24890498119315905072012-07-13T22:48:44.129-05:002012-07-13T22:48:44.129-05:00Great observations! Thoughts like this are what ul...Great observations! Thoughts like this are what ultimate led me to a liturgical (literally, the work of the people) expression of worship.Nathan R. Halehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17300641414049198794noreply@blogger.com