Antioch: The Model Church

In our day and age, there are many programs out there that are directed towards preachers and church leadership. We are told to look at such churches as whatever his name has in Houston, Saddleback, and of course the church that started this mega movement, Willow Creek, though I believe that SECC in Louisville KY was of the first. We are then encouraged to look at the worship service, and encouraged to adopt and tweak the service to fit our congregation. I’ve even had one tell me that we could live-feed another church’s worship service and then once they begin their preaching aspect, I would switch to preaching myself.

There is ever this push to adopt. To become a great church, a church must become a big church, an impactful church, an authentic church. I don’t mean to nay-say the bigger churches as such. Though they have their place as long as they are reaching lost souls, as long as Christians are maturing and growing in their walk with the Lord, I wonder if perhaps we might have it a little backwards. We are busy growing the church. Emphasis seems to be on the church, and not on the Kingdom.

Because, as Christians, we should look to the Bible to guide us, we are going to look at a model church for our time. I want to see what we can learn, see what we are not presently doing that we can be doing. I want us to see the focus of the church of Antioch. For this congregation, many firsts were had. Let’s read the 12 verses together:

(Heart for the Lost) It may seem cliché to say this. Every church has a heart for the lost, don’t they? Do they? What would this heart look like? Since we cannot see ideals and values, we have to look at action. The action to this point is that people were scattered, and they were sharing Jesus, but only to other Jews. To them, the Great Commission was to tell Jews in all other nations about Jesus.

Yet some broke that tradition. Instead of going to who is expected, they went to those who weren’t. Peter was just the beginning for something new. But he wasn’t the first. He still was in Judea, in his comfort zone. Those from Cyprus and Crete went and started preaching to Greeks. They took a risk. They became extroverts. And this was daring because they didn’t know what to expect.

I wonder if maybe they had considered the full implication of the GC and realized that there were no conditions. Go into ALL NATIONS and make disciples, baptizing and teaching them to obey all I have taught you. I wonder if they had thought about the storms they were able to weather because of Jesus in their lives, and since they can see similar worries in the eyes of their Grecian neighbors… You get the idea. These Greeks could have thrown it back in their faces, rejecting a religion from some backwater country in the middle to the desert. But still, they had a heart for the lost. They took a chance and God blessed their efforts.

Do we have a heart for the lost? We don’t have to go to a foreign country if we have a heart for the lost. Not everyone is called to be a missionary. Yet there are those we would not normally go to who need the Good News. Our family needs the good news. Do we tell our brothers and sisters, our nieces and nephews, children, parents and grandchildren of the hope we have in Christ? Do our friends and co-workers know why you became a Christian? These are the people we go to, typically. These are the safe ones. They expect to hear us share our faith if they don’t have a faith.

But what about the others? You know the lady at the checkout line, what’s her name? Or the young man who bags your groceries? What about the person with a sad demeanor sitting at a table along the back wall, wondering if there is anyone who cares about him or her? Eating alone in a public place is quite lonely. Sure, perhaps there is a short lunch break and the person works nearby. But more times than not, this is one of those lost people that we need to have a heart for.

This is harder because we like to stay in our introvert bubble where people know what to expect from us, and the response is predictable. No one really judges us. Sure, they may find our idiosyncrasies a bit off, but that’s not really judgment. We don’t have to be labeled a fanatic, a zealot.

I did that the other week. The same young lady always seems to wait on us at Taco Bell. She knows I am a preacher. But for some reason, I never really got to know her. Wrangling 5 kids amongst us can be rather distracting. So the day happened when I wasn’t swamped by boys. And then I asked her if there was anything she needed us to pray about when we pray over our food. Well, she quickly became defensive. She is the daughter of the COGIC preacher here in town. That’s fine. I wasn’t recruiting for the church, just the kingdom.

Her response didn’t put me off. It wasn’t threatening. She still gives good service. We still talk. Now I have another topic to make conversation, since she is a sister in Christ. But I would not have known that had I not approached her about it. And remember, when you approach someone you do not know, Paul says we can do all things through Christ, because he gives us the strength we need.

(Heart for One Another) This is our weakness, that of the independent church. In this, denominations have an appeal. There are regular meetings of the pastors. There are regular conferences for the people. And it’s easy to find another like-minded church when you are traveling down the highway. But this isn’t such a hierarchy. There was genuine concern for each other, between each congregation. When the Apostles and Elders heard about the faith spreading to the Greeks in Syria, they sent Barnabas to encourage them in the faith. He then took that opportunity to get Paul so that he can be accepted. It really was a great second chance for Paul, where a congregation knows the preacher Paul, not the sinner, the enemy, Saul.

Their hearts went out for the church in Judea because prophets came and told them about a famine that was to hit the entire Roman Empire. Now that means that the same famine that Judea was going to suffer, for which their offering was to help combat, was also the same famine that was going to hit them. Still they gave for the relief of Judea. That is a great faith, a great sign of fellowship.

IT is something that I wish we had more. We need more fellowship. It’s why I look forward to the Men’s Area Fellowship Meeting every other month. I’m lost when if I have to miss it. I would also love it if it becomes monthly. So the question is: What are we doing to achieve the fellowship that we read about in the Scriptures? What are we doing to work on increasing that fellowship?

Currently, we have a congregation near us hurting. Talking to one family, a good Sunday might be double our present attendance. I’ve offered what help we might give them, but for the asking.

This idea of caring for one another, for reaching those who need Jesus also does something else. It keeps us from being focused on us. It comes down that we need to be selfless. And these two characteristics of the Church in Antioch are also the same two points from Jesus’ answer in Matt 22.36ff: Love God, (by seeking the lost), and love your neighbor (by caring for one another).   

Let me therefore close with a single question: What can we do, what can you do to help Central become a model church like Antioch.