The First Missional Church

Over the last several months I have been studying the book of Acts with several different groups of people. We have been reading it as a staff and as a group of elders. I have two life groups that have been going through the book of Acts as well. In each of these groups we have been pointing out traits of the early church that made it a missional church. This series of post will describe the discoveries we have made concerning the First Missional Church.

The first thing that has to be evident in a Missional church is a mission. It can't be just any mission, it has to be one that comes from God. If it is not from God then what you may have is a religious club that you call a church.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus lays out the mission to His disciples. He says, "But, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

There is our mission as Christ followers. We are to be His witnesses throughout all the earth. Notice he did not say we would go out and witness. That would be a very passive act. In Cleveland, the Cavaliers and Nike want people to come out and witness Lebron James' greatness. What they want us to do is watch. Which is what most Christ followers do. They come and watch.

To be a witness means we testify about what we know. Living our lives as a follower of Jesus is a testimony as to who he is and what he has done. The label Christian was not a self given title. They were called Christians because it was evident that they followed Jesus.

Another thing about Acts 1:8. In these various studies I am going through we refer to Acts 1:8 often. It is awesome to see the spread of the gospel first in Jerusalem, in Judea, then to Samaria and finally throughout the world. Not only did they understand the mission, the early followers of Christ focused on living out that mission. They did it by the leading of the Spirit which is the first characteristic we noticed in the First Missional Church. That is the next topic.

So here is the question: How are you a witness (or how do you testify) of Jesus? Would people call you a Christian because of a self-proclaimed title or because of how you live your life?