All the believers were one in heart and mind

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”
Acts 4:32-35 (NIV)

Last summer, God taught me a lot about what He wants His church to look like. In St. Louis, I attended a church that had a bluegrass worship team and a pastor that wore blue jeans and a baseball cap up to the pulpit. He played a clip of The Simpsons as an illustration and conducted a baptism and two baby dedications in the same service. At another church, the worship team looked like a mariachi band, liturgy was used in every section of the service and Jesus was referred to as El Señor. At both these places, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, and I know that God was pleased with the worship of those two congregations.

I found it fascinating. How diverse our God must be to create people that worship Him in these ways! And then it got me thinking… what should the Church look like? I mean, looking at just those two churches, there must be a million different possibilities. But what is at the core of what God intended the body of Christ to be?

This passage in Acts paints a picture of the early church that awes me whenever I read it.
1. All the believers were one in heart and mind.
2. They shared everything they had.
3. The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
4. There were no needy persons among them.
5. Money (from land or houses sold voluntarily) was distributed to anyone as he had need.

Isn’t that amazing?
The early church was intimate and close-knit. They looked after their own and proclaimed Christ to others. They “all joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1:14) and “ate together with glad and sincere hearts” (Acts 2:46).

Is that what our church looks like?