By Sam O’Neal
Nothing changes the course of a culture quite like a movement—a wave of passionate individuals joining to fight for and achieve a single, critical goal. Think of the American Revolution, the abolitionist movement, or the civil rights campaign.
But nothing has changed the course of our world quite like the movement we call the church.
According to Acts 1, the earliest iteration of the church had about 120 believers—plus the Holy Spirit. From those humble beginnings, God launched a movement that has built momentum for millennia and affected every corner of the globe.
As modern participants in that movement, we can learn a great deal from those earliest of disciples. In fact, we must learn from our spiritual ancestors if we want to continue their legacy of changing the world for the cause of Christ.
Specifically, here are three lessons from the early church that will help us fulfill our mission as disciples of Jesus.
Face external opposition with humility
Many people today have a false understanding of what it means to be humble. We often think a humble person is a weak person—a doormat to be walked over or ignored.
In reality, humility is strength under control. Humble people have power and passion, yet they aren’t driven to unleash their strengths on a whim or in service to their own desires. Instead, humble people submit their power and passions in service to something greater than themselves.
The earliest leaders of the church demonstrated this kind of humility in the face of opposition and persecution.
Take the apostle Peter. In Acts 5, he was arrested and dragged before the Sanhedrin—the religious court of his day. Enemies who had the authority and the desire to do him harm surrounded him.
Yet he stood firm.
The Sanhedrin had ordered Peter and the other disciples to stop teaching in the name of Jesus. They refused.
Peter and the other apostles didn’t complain. They didn’t sling insults or sarcastic comebacks. They simply (and humbly) focused on their calling to serve Christ.
“We must obey God rather than men,” Peter and the other apostles told the religious authorities.
The church continues to face outside opposition in today’s world. Yet we don’t serve the cause of Christ when we respond to that opposition in kind. We don’t need bravado or blistering retorts when others seek to tear down what God is building through His church. What we do need is humility. We need strength under control.
Face internal opposition with unity
In addition to being attacked by outside forces, the early church dealt with a number of internal struggles and conflicts that threatened to derail its mission. Early believers disagreed about what it meant to follow Christ. These disagreements sometimes erupted into major divisions.
The apostle Paul sought to address these divisions in several of his epistles. Perhaps the most famous example came in his first letter to the church at Corinth, where he called out the problem in no uncertain terms.
“Is Christ divided?” he wrote. “Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name?”
Paul offered his solution to this problem in verse 10.
“Now I urge you, brothers,” he wrote, “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.”
Unity within the church is a major theme throughout the New Testament, from Paul (see Philippians 2:1-2) to Peter (see 1 Peter 3:8-9) and beyond. Jesus lifted up the critical importance of unity and mutual love in the church when He said, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
Sadly, the church today often feels divided, by denomination, political affiliation, and racial segregation. These factors and more have raised walls within the body of Christ—walls that will not be broken down by more fevered attempts to force other Christians into our specific method of following Christ.
When differences arise between factions of the church, we need to strive for unity, not victory.
Above all else, stay focused on Christ
The early church represents the most successful movement in human history. Yet the earliest Christians could never have survived outside opposition and internal strife without the presence and power of Christ in their midst. The early church succeeded because it was dependent on Christ.
The same must be true of the modern church. We cannot resist the crushing pressure of our culture unless Jesus strengthens us. We cannot set aside our many differences for the sake of unity unless Jesus joins us together.
As Peter declared in the church’s very first sermon: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!” (Acts 2:36).
May we keep the same focus. And by God’s grace, may we see the same results.
SAM O’NEAL (@SamTONeal) is content editor for Lifeway’s Adult Ministry team.