“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42
The book of Acts gives us a beautiful picture of how the early church operated. Some of the members were the people who walked and talked with Jesus while He was on earth and included those who witnessed His resurrection and saw Him ascend into heaven. But it also included many, many more. In fact, scripture says that more were added to their number daily. Can we say that about our own churches? Do we daily have more people breaking down our doors to join us? Why not? We’re serving the same God. We’re preaching the same gospel. The same Holy Spirit is at work in our midst.
It’s not God who’s changed in the last 2,000 years. It’s us, His people. So let’s take a look at how the operated. The first aspect of their lives it mentions is the apostles’ teaching. Is that an important part of our lives? Do we strive continually to learn more about God and His word, to spend time under the tutelage of those whom God has gifted to teach us and instruct us? Do we ask God for the discernment of His Spirit to decipher teaching about Him and His word?
Next we see encouragement to fellowship. To gather together with Christ’s followers. Breaking bread, or eating, together indicates a community that’s more than just a group of people all in the same room. There’s a sharing, a connection between them. The word “fellowship” has an emphasis on the sharing of those things we have in common. It also indicates participation. In other words, we can’t have fellowship if we’re just observers. Both fellowship and eating together indicates a blessed relationship, a sharing of our lives together.
Added to this is praying together. Prayer in our private lives is essential in our walk with Christ. But God also wants prayer to be a shared and common experience. In fact, communal prayer can be a very powerful weapon against our enemy. But it also draws us closer to one another even as it’s drawing us closer to God.
Going back to the beginning of the verse, we see that they were devoted to these things. The Greek is actually two words, one of which means to join to or adhere to, to spend much time with. Am I so devoted to Christ’s church that I can honestly say I’m adhered to it, that I spend much time with it? For example, do I spend much time with the teachings of God and of His apostles? Am I truly joined with the fellowship of believers? Am I willing to share in the breaking of bread and experience the commonality of fellow believers? Or am I too busy with my schedule, demands on my time? Am I willing to put the church of Christ above earthly concerns? In this age of online church “attendance” and learning from pastors and teachers we’ve never met, may we see that while these may be wonderful blessings, they are not a replacement for the kind of church involvement God is calling us to be a part of. May we strive to be truly devoted to Christ and His church.