Acts 4:32-5:16
The early believers lived, breathed, and immersed themselves into the truth of Jesus’ crucifixion, death, burial, and ascension. They were thoroughly convinced of the mission of Christ, of the great commission; therefore, they gave all they were to speak the Word of God. Nothing, not even threats and persecution could keep them from proclaiming the Word and carrying out the mission of Christ.
The early church grew because the believers were united in their desire to reach others for Christ. As we see from the example of Ananias and Saphira, God knows who is united and who isn’t.
Think for a second about what disunity does to a church. It tears it apart. Maybe not obviously, maybe not quickly, but if we are not in unison working toward the mission God has given us of reaching others with the transformative power of Jesus Christ, we might as well be a social club.
If you are in a social club working on a project, little cliques are going to form in the group. This clique is going to talk about that clique, personalities are going to clash. If you miss a club meeting, no biggie. Y’all know what I’m talking about; social clubs prove that the high school mentality stays with us long past graduation.
But these ways of the world don’t work in God’s Church. We are called to be different from the world. Are we going to get under each other’s skin? You betcha! But if we are filled with the Holy Spirit in union with each other and with God focusing on our mission, the problems of man – those things that we let come between us and each other – will fall by the wayside.