The Church as a Spiritual Community

In last week's blog (The Church within the Church, 4/29/2019), I drew a contrast between the church as a spiritual community and the church as an institution. What is this church within the church? What does church as a spiritual community look like?

The first church in Jerusalem was described as a spiritual community. That community was organized around four central practices. These practices were a priority in their life together (they devoted themselves to, Acts 2:42, NRSV). The interrelated nature of these four practices is reflected in their being paired with each other: (1) the apostles' teaching was coupled with (2) fellowship, (3) the breaking of bread was coupled with (4) the prayers.

The apostles' teaching was the way the early church learned the ways of God that Jesus taught. The apostles had sat under Jesus' teaching. They now shared his teaching with these early Christ-followers. This community was committed to learning what Jesus taught. But they were also committed to allowing that teaching to shape how they lived. The apostles' teaching was linked with fellowship. The  root concept of the word fellowship is sharing. Verses 44-45 indicate they shared their material possessions to address the needs within their community. In other words, they put what they were learning into practice. They were committed to learning and living the ways of God that Jesus taught.

The third practice was the breaking of bread. Verse 46 suggests they often ate together in one another's homes. They lived together in community, sharing everyday life together. This eating together was paired with the prayers. They observed the Jewish times of prayer throughout the day. (See Acts 3:1, at the hour of prayer.) The phrase suggests that spiritual practices were a part of their relationships. They prayed with one another and for one another. (See Acts 4:23-41 for an example of this practice.) They were committed to walking with one another and supporting one another as they learned and lived the ways of God that Jesus taught.

The result of these practices was spiritual health and vitality. Not only did these early disciples grow in their discipleship, the church grew numerically. Others were attracted to the spiritual vibrancy of this church as a spiritual community. (See Acts 2:47; Acts 4:32-35.)

At the heart of this early church were spiritual friendships centered around learning and living the ways of God that Jesus taught. These spiritual friendships were an indispensable resource to their spiritual growth and progress.

Being a part of a church that is a spiritual community involves living in covenanted relationship with spiritual friends out of a mutual commitment to grow and live as the followers of Jesus. This statement reflects the three defining components of church as spiritual community: (1) spiritually-based and spiritually-oriented relationships, (2) that foster personal spiritual growth and development so that (3) how we live in relationship with others and in the world reflects the teachings of Jesus. These spiritually-based and spiritually-oriented relationships are marked by openness, honesty, vulnerability, and mutual dependency. Such openness, coupled with prayer (see again Acts 4:23-41) creates a context in which the Spirit of God can work, empowering, transforming, maturing, guiding.

The church as a spiritual community is an expression of Christian discipleship: learning and living the ways of God that Jesus taught. Spiritual friendships are a vital component to such discipleship. Spiritual health, vitality, and growth flow out of this kind of community life.

The institutional church, by contrast, offers a different way of being and doing church, and, thereby, a different kind of community life.. More on that in the next blog.