Jeffrey Holton
  • Home
  • About
    • Resume
    • Sermons
    • Family Discipleship
    • Book Reviews
    • Philippines
  • Blog
  • Pictures
  • Contact
  • Archives

A PASTOR IN TRANSFORMATION

Where is the Perfect Church?

1/15/2017

0 Comments

 
I once read a story about a man who was very frustrated with the imperfections and hypocrisy of the the Christian Church.  Because of his frustration he sought out and approached the great theologian and pastor Charles Spurgeon.  He asked Spurgeon, "Can you help me find the perfect church.  I am tired of all the hypocrisy in the Church establishment.   Pastor Spurgeon looked at the man and responded, "If you find such a group anywhere on this earth, don't join it, because when you do , it will no longer be perfect."

There is no such thing as a perfect church.  I think we all know this.  There are only imperfect churches who worship a perfect God.  The church is and always has been a community of flawed individuals who are saved by the grace of God. This has been the case since the birth of the Church at Pentecost.  The first church was a growing church, it was a vibrant and Spirit-filled church.  In all honesty it was probably the closest to perfect than any church in the history of the Church. But, it had flaws, it had problems and yes, they dealt with sin issues among the body of believers.  We should take comfort in knowing that even the first Church was defective and dysfunctional because God worked mightily among this rag tag group of Christ followers then and he can work mightily among His people today.

One of the strong attributes of the early church was that it was a church that shared and gave.  The author, Luke, reports that they had all things in common and they shared their possessions as needed.  They had an attitude of giving and this attitude was infectious.  People were selflessly sharing their possession, and they were meeting needs of those less fortunate.  To show and example of the generosity of the church Luke tells us a story about Barnabas.  He was a man who had some land and for whatever reason sold it and gave all the money to the church.  He gave with an open and generous heart, he held back nothing.  He wasn't looking for public praise or approval; he wanted to be a blessing to the church and gave as act of worship to God.

His story of generosity became public and a couple named Ananias and Sapphira heard this story and decided they would do the same.  The unfortunate thing is that their motives weren't pure as Barnabas's were.  They sold some possessions and decided to keep some of the money for themselves.  The words "kept back", in verse 2 literally means to steal, embezzle or withdraw covertly to ones own use.  This was a full on act of decption.  They brought the money and laid it at the Apostles feet in hopes of receiving the same positive acknowledgement and praise that Barnabas received.  They lied to the Apostles by telling them that they were giving them all the money and keeping none for themselves.  The Apostle Peter catches them red handed and confronts them of their deception to God.  The end result is quite disturbing as both Ananias and Sapphira are struck dead for their sinful deception.  

So the act of keeping some of the money for themselves was not the sin that they lost their lives over.  The act of deceiving God is.  The punishment still seems a bit harsh but I think the author is trying to prove the point that God will not tolerate deception that leads to dishonoring His name (Read Proverbs 6:16 - 19).

Ultimately I think it is important to know that the early church did not deal lightly with sin.  They could not allow this movement of God to start with corruption and deceit.  Ajith Fernando writes in his commentary on Acts, "If there is true fellowship in a Christian community, then when sin appears in the body, it will be confronted.  If we feel someone is lying, we must question him or her about it... If sin is not dealt with decisively the chances of healing for the one who has sinned is greatly reduced."
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.



    Picture
    Jeff has been in full-time ministry for thirty years. He currently serves as Executive Director at Anchor House Ministry at SeaPort Manatee in Palmetto, FL and he is a part-time Campus Pastor at West Bradenton Southside in Bradenton, Florida.

    Jeff Has authored A Lent Devotional (A Spiritual Journey to Lent) an Advent Devotional (The Advent of Jesus) and a devotional on the book of James (James: Where Faith and Life Meet). All three are available on Amazon.

    He is married to Carrie and they have four children, Micaiah, Gabe, Simon, and Berea.
    Preview or purchase Jeff's Books
    Jeff Holton Lent Devotional

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    Categories

    All

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
    • Resume
    • Sermons
    • Family Discipleship
    • Book Reviews
    • Philippines
  • Blog
  • Pictures
  • Contact
  • Archives