Monday – Gospels and Acts
Reading – Acts 6
Highlight Verse:
“But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.”
Acts of the Apostles 6:1 NLT
We serve a perfect God.
But we are human.
Imperfect with selfish tendencies.
People in the early church were no different.
We tend to think of the early church as idyllic. But they had their problems.
It could have been worse.
In their wisdom, the apostles delegated the task of food distribution to capable people.
I’m sure the system continued to have flaws, but they did the best they could with what they had.
People tend to expect perfection from churches today. And when they fall short of those ideals, they dismiss the church as corrupt or, at least, unfeeling.
I once heard it said that if you find a perfect church, don’t start attending because then it won’t be perfect anymore.
There are valid reasons to avoid certain churches. If they stray from the basic truths of the Gospel, that’s a major problem.
But we should never reject a church because they do something different than we would like.
Nor should we assume the acts or words of individuals within the church represent the whole church.
As imperfect humans, we need to make the effort to understand each other and cooperate in service of the Gospel.
We will never have perfect churches here on earth, but if we cooperate and diligently fill our callings within the church, we will effectively reach people for Jesus.
Let’s work together to populate heaven!
How have you seen churches get over their differences to become more effective at spreading the Gospel?
How have you found your place within your church?
