The quest of the churches of Christ is to restore the church as we read about it in the first century. Some in the world and in the church have made light of this goal, asking questions such as, “Which New Testament church will we strive to be like—Corinthians with its myriad problems from division to marriage and the resurrection? Or Thessalonians with its problems of understanding the second coming? Or Galatians with its problems of false teachers that divide the church and enslave the brethren with falsehoods?

We seek not to restore the problems with the church—we seek instead to see their problems, see what God said to do to solve their problems, and apply these principles to make sure the church is what GOD wants it to be.

We have tried to be honest in the last few articles and discuss some of the things in which the New Testament church was strong, but wherein we fail. We desire to imitate them in what was good, and we need to strive to imitate the first century church in steadfastness, prayer and evangelism. What are some other things we need to imitate?

1. The early church worked hard at fellowship. In Acts 2–4 we read of the church having all things in common, going from house to house, and proving its love to all the members. This demands that we look at our fellowship—do we have all things in common? If a brother or sister has needs that we have the ability to take care of, are we willing to do what we can to meet those needs? Are we willing to go from house to house, showing and giving hospitality and helping encourage one another in the church? Do we show love to ALL the members, or just the ones we like? Do we welcome in all new members or put them on a period of probation until they prove themselves worthy of being a member of the church? How are we doing at this Bible command to fellowship?

2. The early church was willing to sacrifice everything for the good of the church. As we read of the church in the New Testament we see a spirit of sacrifice and commitment to see the church become what God designed the church to be. We see a willingness to sacrifice their comforts and desires for the good of the whole. They understood the concept of the church being a family and the need for all members to sacrifice what they could for the good of the whole. That is why they considered that they had all things in common (Acts 2:44–45). The members of the church wanted the church to flourish in every way—do we? The result was that the church grew by leaps and bounds and changed the culture. Unfortunately, our culture today has changed the church. We have to push, pull, tug and spend more time getting the members of the church to do what the Bible says they need to be doing. We often wear our feelings on our sleeves, waiting for someone to offend us, so we will have an excuse to leave. Sacrifice? What’s that?

Again, the success or failure of the church is dependent on what the members of the church are willing to do and sacrifice for the good of the church. “If every member of the church were just like me, what kind of church would this church be?” May we commit ourselves to the church as never before and commit ourselves to doing what God said we should do. Encourage me as I strive to encourage you!