things change

I was reading in Acts 21 this morning, and thinking about how different things were in the early church than they are now.

In college, I used to attend a church that thought it was very important that we follow the pattern of the early Christians.

Yet, there are SO many things that happen in Acts that are VERY different from how God has the church structured now.

This particular chapter, I was noticing how OFTEN people were hearing from the Holy Spirit, not just about their own lives, but also about others. Paul was getting all KINDS of communication through other people from the Holy Spirit.

But today, the Spirit communicates to the individual believer about their own life, but (in my opinion) doesn't go meddling with others. He will talk to me about ME, and He will talk to you about YOU. He doesn't need to use me to give you orders!

It made me think of how, when a baby is newborn, SO many things change ... the hole in their heart closes up, the soft spot in their heads firms up, their neck gets stronger, they gain weight, vision improves, etc. And it's SO SO FAST.

And it's the only time in life (except maybe adolescence) that everything is in such a state of rapid change.

Acts is kind of like a newborn. All kinds of things are happening to prepare the church for maturity and stability in the future. And while we learn a TON from it, I'm becoming less and less convinced that it's intended to be a pattern for how the church should function today.

In fact, it's amazing how LITTLE pattern God actually gives us for the church's function. We are told some about how the leadership should be, and some about how we should treat one another, but as far as details about when we meet, how long, what the music's like, what the building's like, what we should wear, etc. etc. ... God doesn't say a whole lot.

When you look at the intricate details He gave for old testament temple worship, that's really amazing, isn't it? They had specifications for EVERY THING having to do with worshiping God.

Yet for the new testament church ... there's all this liberty left.

I think it's a neat picture of how God is now focused on the internal condition of our hearts, rather than the externals of buildings and dress and music and blah blah blah. He wants us to worship Him in community with a local church, but how that's done? We're pretty free.

And how adaptable this makes Christianity. It's not a belief that only "works" in Israel in 50 A.D. or in America in 2009. It belongs to every culture who opens to it, and any time. The Dutch here who prefer music without any drums, or such-like (and kind of like their food without spice also ... I wonder if there's a connection?) can HAVE their plain way of worship. And those who like drums and dancing can have that too. It's all freedom and liberty. I like that!

Grey areas are very VERY nice in so many things!

Rambling post today ... if anyone read this far, I'm impressed. :)