A husband and wife sat across from the marriage counselor. Since it was their first time with this counselor, and since the husband didn’t see any need for the session, his wife spoke first. She said, “I feel as though our marriage has lost its spark. It’s not that my husband is not good to me. Whenever I have a need, he takes care of it. It’s not that we don’t spend time together. We do. Our routine is to have at least breakfast and supper together every day. Yet still, it’s as though the life has gone out of our marriage.”

Upon hearing this, the counselor stood up and asked the wife to stand. He looked at the husband and said, “I think this will help bring life back into your marriage.” Unexpectedly, the counselor spins the wife in his arms, dips her and plants a long “Hollywood kiss” on her. Raising her up, he looks to the husband and says, “Now, you need to make sure she has an experience like that at least three times a week.” “Okay, Doc,” the husband answers, “I’ll bring her by on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.”

Remorsefully, the story of this couple has become the story of most churches. Most churches are filled with members that are good and responsible. That’s evident by their faithful attendance to worship, Bible studies, choirs and other programs. And when a member has a need, other members step forward to meet it. You could honestly say that members within a church share a lot together. But the unasked question is, “Are they sharing life together?”

Reflecting over the churches I’ve served, and considering church-life in general, I sat in my study and raised the following questions:

AS A CHURCH,
…we share programs, but are we sharing life?
…we share a tradition, but are we sharing life?
…we share doctrine, but are we sharing life?
…we share a cause, but are we sharing life?
…we share a culture, but are we sharing life?
…we share history, but are we sharing life?

Humbled by this exercise, I came to the conclusion that there are a lot of good churches where the members do a lot together, and some of the members have been together a long time. However, that doesn’t mean they are sharing life together. Vibrant churches, like those in the book of Acts, understand what it means to share life together.

What Life?

Sharing qualities such as programs, tradition, culture, cause, and history could also describe a reputable college, a hospital, or a law firm. These are the qualities that make for fine institutions. However, God never intended for His church to be an institution, for the church has something all institutions lack. It has life. Let me explain.

The word “church” in the Greek is “ekklesia” and means “assembly.” Prior to the birth of the church in Acts 2, this word was used to describe any assembly of people. It was probably used to describe an assembly of the Roman Senate or an assembly of spectators at the Coliseum in Rome. Yet, when the New Testament uses ekklesia to describe an assembly of believers, God purposely inspired the writers to place the article “the” in front of it. God wanted it clear that His assembly is different than any other. His assembly is the ultimate assembly, for only God’s assembly has life within it—the life of Jesus Christ. This is made clear in Acts 2:38-41.

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

These verses mark the birth of “The Church.” The Church has life because the church is an assembly of individuals who have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. And according to Jesus’ promise in John 14:15-18, when you surrender your life to Him, His Spirit comes to live within you.

Therefore, unlike a law firm, a church is a body, not a business. Unlike a hospital, a church is an organism, not an organization. Unlike a college or university, a church is a living entity, not an institution. A church is different from any other assembly because the believers within the church have within them the very life of Jesus Christ.

Yet sadly, believers within the church often mistake their programs and organization for life. They think if they keep the doors open and all the programs staffed, then surely there’s life within the church. That’s not true physically so why would it be true spiritually? That would be the same as saying having a heart and lungs makes you alive. Most corpses have a heart and lungs, but they’re not alive. Tragically, I’ve wept with families in hospitals with loved ones in comas. Though their heart and lungs were working, the loved one lay prone and lifeless. Just as the organization of a physical body doesn’t guarantee life, neither do the organization and programs of a church mean that a church has life. The only one who can bring life to you physically and spiritually is God.

Life to our physical bodies began in Genesis 2:7 when God breathed into Adam the breath of life. And life came into the church spiritually when, in Acts 2:4, God breathed into His followers His Holy Spirit—the very life of Jesus Christ. It’s the life of Jesus within believers which gives life to the church. To better understand that life, you need to underscore three important prepositions. Let’s look at the life OF Christ, life IN Christ, and life WITH Christ.

The Life of Christ
The life OF Christ refers to living in such a way that you reveal to others the very person of Jesus Christ. For me, the best description of the person of Christ occurs in John 1:14 where the Bible says of Jesus, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus’ life is described as living the fullness of God’s grace and truth. What a magnificent assessment of Jesus’ character.

Jesus also makes it clear in John 20:21 that He expects His followers to live the same way. Before ascending to heaven Jesus charges His followers, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” As a believer, you, too, are to live the fullness of God’s grace and truth. Your character is to be like Christ’s.

When others see that your compassion never weakens your convictions and your convictions never rob your compassion, they will know there is something different about you. Others will see in you the life of Jesus Christ.

Your Life in Christ
By living the life OF Christ, others will see the character of Christ—the very person of Christ in you. That should be enough to grab the attention of others. Yet the spiritual life that is shared by believers is about more than revealing the character of Christ. It’s also about displaying the capabilities of Christ. It’s not just about His person; it’s also about His power. You understand this when you study the believer’s life IN Christ.

It’s apparent that the Apostle Paul was overwhelmed by the life he had IN Christ. Paul uses the phrase “in Christ” 85 times in all his writings. Luke uses the phrase just once and Peter only three times. In Ephesians alone, Paul uses the phrase fourteen times, more than in any other letter God inspired Him to write. When you look at some of his statements, you can see why Paul couldn’t get over the life he had IN Christ. God inspired Paul to write believers and say,

• In Christ, you receive every gift given by God (1:3)
• In Christ, you receive the power that raised Christ from the dead (1:20)
• In Christ, you are at the right hand of God (2:6)
• In Christ, you receive the riches of God’s grace (2:7)
• In Christ, you are molded to do good works (2:10)
• In Christ, you are close to God (2:13)
• In Christ, you are one with other believers (3:6)
• In Christ, all God has promised is guaranteed (3:10)
• In Christ, you receive God’s forgiveness (3:42)

Adrian Rogers gave a vivid picture of what it means to have life “in Christ.” He once said, “If you put a man in a barrel and throw that barrel into the Mississippi River, where would that man be? You’d say he’s in the Mississippi River.” Therefore, to be in Christ and to know that scripture says Christ is at the right hand of the Father means that when you are in Christ, you are at the right hand of God the Father. Because you are in Christ you receive all the spiritual blessings promised by God and paid for by Christ. Do you understand the position you hold and the possessions you have because the life of Christ is in you? What a powerful life you have to share!

Your Life with Christ
Though by living the life OF Christ you reveal the person of Jesus, and by living your life IN Christ you can display the power of Jesus, I believe that living your life WITH Christ is the most important of the three. Without living your life WITH Christ you will take the person of Christ and the power of Christ and keep them from being effective.

When it is finished in 2011, the Three Gorges Dam in China will be the largest hydro-electric power station in the world. The water of three rivers will be walled back by this dam creating the Three Gorges Reservoir. As the rushing water from the reservoir activates the turbines, they expect it to generate 22,500 megawatts of power.

However, consider how meaningless this 22.5 billion dollar project would be if the water was never allowed to activate the turbines. What a waste to have such a reservoir and never use it.¹

The same tragedy occurs if you consider each believer within a church as a river. Can you imagine the reservoir of the character and capabilities of Christ within each church? Yet what a travesty to have so much of the person and power of Christ unused. Furthermore, they will remain unused unless the believers are willing to apply them to the purpose of Christ—unless they are willing to live their lives WITH Christ.

Before ascending to heaven, Jesus clearly articulates His purpose. In Acts 1:7-8, He gives His followers the following charge.

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 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.”

When you are faithful at fulfilling Jesus’ purpose, Jesus is faithful to fulfill His promises. Philemon 6 says, “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” When you share Christ, you turn on the spiritual turbines and the person of Christ is revealed, the power of Christ is displayed and the purpose of Christ is being fulfilled.

The sad reality is many believers, and therefore, many churches, have dammed back the person and power of Christ in their lives. Content with the programs and organization of the church, the life of Christ is being changed from a living entity into a dying institution. Yet, I believe that when believers begin living their lives WITH Christ and sharing the life OF Christ, the spiritual turbines will power up once again. We will see the life of God surging through today’s church just as it did in the early church.

How is it Shared?

In a pragmatic society, we want to know, “How?” Today’s church would like to ask the early church, “How did you do it? How did you share life in such a way to keep the spiritual turbines working?” As we look at the book of Acts, it appears that the early church shared life together four ways.

Through a Personal Message
The initial way the early church shared life was through a personal message. This was the plan Jesus put in place in Acts 1:8 when He said, “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.” A witness is someone giving a personal account of their own experience.

That’s what happens in Acts 2 as 120 of Jesus’ followers move through the crowded streets of Jerusalem telling the masses about Jesus. It happens in Acts 8 as Philip talks with an Ethiopian on a road, in Acts 10 as Peter shares with Cornelius and his family in a house, and in Acts 16 as Paul helps the man who had shackled him in jail surrender his life to Christ.

Whether it was a sermon at Pentecost or an individual conversation, it was still one sharing their experience to another. Billy Graham made this clear during an interview. When asked about the masses he had seen surrender to Christ over the years, he said though the people came in great numbers, each person was led to Christ by a one-on-one experience.

I recently saw the impact of sharing life through a personal message. Before getting a haircut, I sat in my car talking with Miss Doris, a church member who was recovering from hip replacement surgery. Overjoyed, she shared how she and her husband helped her aide surrender his life to Christ. Still excited from the conversation, I told Kathy, who was now cutting my hair, about Miss Doris’ experience. Then I asked her, “Have I ever told you my story?” When she said no, I shared how I surrendered my life to Christ at age six. Then I asked her if she had a similar story. She said yes and told me how as a girl she had lived by a church but her family never attended. It was a friend who invited her to church, and after a while she surrendered her life to Christ. When I said, “That’s wonderful,” she said, “Oh, but it gets better. On the day I was baptized, my mother came to church for the first time. That day she surrendered her life to Jesus Christ.”

Every hair salon is filled with mirrors and people having conversations while their hair is being cut. Yet as Kathy and I shared our respective stories, I noticed that most of the conversations stopped as people began listening to our stories. We were sharing life, and what made it so powerful was the fact it was a personal message.

In Large Gatherings
The natural result of sharing life is that it can produce a large gathering of others who have also experienced the person, power and purpose of Christ. Thus when followers of Christ assemble in a large gathering, they share life together by worshipping together. In Acts 2:44-47, this happens in the early church and has been happening ever since.

44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Three times in these four verses you find the word “together.” Verse 44 says, “All the believers were together and had everything in common.” For me, “everything they had in common” refers to the life they shared in Jesus Christ. Each was experiencing and expressing life with Christ. No wonder verses 46 and 47 indicate that they were meeting daily in the temple courts to praise God.

One of the reasons why they were meeting in the temple courts was that it was one of the only places large enough to handle their gathering. And as they gathered, they praised God. What He was doing in them and through them was too much to celebrate alone. Therefore, when they gathered, they overflowed together and shared life in worship.

Wow, what an experience! In a unique way, Jacob Needleman’s experience at the launch of Apollo 17 reveals how intense sharing life through worship can be.

I was an observer at the launch of Apollo 17 in 1975. It was a night launch, and there were hundreds of cynical reporters all over the lawn, drinking beer, wisecracking and waiting for this 35-story-high rocket.

The countdown came and then the launch. The first thing you see is the extraordinary orange light, which is just at the limit of what you can bear to look at. Everything is illuminated with this light. Then comes this thing slowly rising up in total silence because it takes a few seconds for the sound to come across. You hear a “WHOOOOOSH! HHHHMMMM!” It enters right into you. You can practically hear jaws dropping. The sense of wonder fills everyone in the whole place as the thing goes up and up. The first stage ignites this beautiful blue flame. It becomes like a star, but you realize there are humans on it. And then there’s total silence.

People just get up quietly, helping each other up. They’re kind. They open doors. They look at one another, speaking quietly and interestedly. These were suddenly moral people because the sense of wonder, the experience of wonder, had made them moral.²

If the wonder of experiencing a rocket launch can do that to a gathering of cynical reporters, imagine what the wonder of regularly experiencing Jesus can do to a gathering of believers. If a rocket launch can make drunken reporters moral, think what a risen Jesus can do to a gathering of fully surrendered followers…even to a group of onlookers who aren’t followers.

The intensity of such an experience is amazing, and it happens when believers share life together in sincere worship.

In Small Groups
Sharing life together in larger gatherings for worship can be an intense experience. But the early church also shared life together in small groups. These are best described as intimate experiences. They are alluded to in Acts 2:46 where it explains, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.”

There are believers today who feel they don’t have to be a part of both large gatherings and small groups to get the full benefit of shared life. The early believers would disagree. Months after the birth of the church, Acts 5:42 records, “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”

They never stopped worshiping together in large gatherings because what God was doing in their lives each day was too great to celebrate alone. Furthermore, they refused to stop meeting as small groups because the intimacy of their small groups gave them strength even in the face of persecution.

As the Pharisees began targeting believers, they knew where to find them. Acts 8:3 reports, “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” Even though it meant persecution and prison, the early believers continued meeting in their small groups. The life being shared in those small groups was too vital to abandon.

In my opinion, Jesus was the first to reveal the amazing things that can take place in a small group. Look what happened when Jesus entered a house.

• Matthew 8:14 – In Peter’s house, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law.
• Matthew 9:10 – In Matthew’s house, Jesus meets with tax collectors and sinners.
• Matthew 9:23 – In a ruler’s house, Jesus raises the ruler’s daughter to life.
• Matthew 13:36 – In a house, Jesus explains his parables.
• Mark 9:36 – In a house, Jesus teaches that to be great you must serve.
• Mark 10:10 – In a house, Jesus teaches about divorce and remarriage.
• Luke 5:18 – In house, Jesus teaches Pharisees, but his lessons are interrupted. when the roof is taken off and a man is lowered down for Jesus to heal.

Don’t misunderstand me and think that the only way to share life is if your small group meets in a house. Once you think that way, you turn something wonderful into another program. The key is not where a small group meets, but that when a small group meets they share life together.

Please understand, the priority of small groups is not the teacher’s Bible lecture. It’s that the believers in the group share life together. Furthermore, the priority of small groups is not just to have coffee and small talk. It’s to share life together. I don’t believe you can truly share life in a small group without scripture. Neither can you share life in a small group without meaningful relationships. When you marry God’s Word with meaningful relationships, you experience the person, power, and purpose of Jesus Christ. You share life. And when you share life, you can turn a stagnant pool into a spring-fed pond.

Some small groups are like stagnant pools. They have no life flowing into them and none pouring from them. These groups have mottos and mosquitoes. Their mottos are “Us four and no more.” “Us eight, so close the gate.” “Our twenty is plenty.” Small groups without life flowing in them and from them can turn members into mosquitoes. Like mosquitoes, these members don’t share life. They suck it from others. Here’s the profile of a small group mosquito.

• You seldom attend, but you expect them to meet your every need.
• When they do meet your need, it’s never enough.
• You dominate discussion and prayer time with your needs.
• When others have a need, your needs are too big to help them.

The small group mosquito doesn’t share life; they suck it from others and from the life of the church.

When a small group is eager to reach others and add new relationships, and when a small group looks for ministries to conduct together, or eagerly encourages their members to move out and start other small groups, then you turn a stagnant pool into a spring-fed pond that’s teaming with life. Sure, you’re still liable to have an occasional mosquito come to your group, but it will be hard for them to suck the life from it. You’re to busy sharing life for them to light and suck.

In Mentoring Relationships
As the early church shared life, they did so in large gatherings and small groups. The large gatherings were wonderful celebrations of life while their small groups were intimate expressions of life. The life they were sharing was the life found in the person, power, and purpose of Jesus Christ.

Yet when you look at the early church, they shared life one other way—through mentoring relationships. These one-on-one relationships were the most effective way of shaping, strengthening, and maturing fellow believers. One of the most influential mentors in the book of Acts is Barnabas.

Only Peter and Paul are mentioned more times than Barnabas in the book of Acts. His character so impacted the gathering in Jerusalem that the first Christians changed his name from Joseph to Barnabas, which means “Son of Encouragement” (Acts 4:32-37). Yet in Acts 9, Barnabas hears of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Saul had been a religious bounty hunter for the Jews, persecuting and imprisoning followers of Jesus Christ. Now that he was a follower, many of the Christians were skeptical. Not Barnabas. In Acts 9:26-29, Barnabas sought Paul and began a mentoring relationship that lasted for years.

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

I believe the Apostle Paul’s spiritual life was shaped, strengthened and matured because Barnabas took time to mentor him.

In the last few weeks I heard godly men whom I respect share how their lives were forever changed because godly men mentored them. They were not talking about church programs. One shared how his godly boss took an interest in him and mentored him. The other shared of a godly scout master and a godly Sunday School teacher who devoted extra time to him and mentored him.

As I heard these men talk about their mentors, I began to wonder who had been my mentor. Then I saw it. The framed reminder rests on my desk. It was one of the last pictures I ever had taken with my dad. Funny, though, neither of us was posing for it because neither of us knew someone was taking it. Yet the position was all too familiar to me. We’re sitting at the table in Mom and Dad’s kitchen and I’m talking and Dad’s listening. Make no mistake, there were many times when Dad was talking and I was listening. That was part of the mentoring relationship I enjoyed with Dad. In fact, thinking back, here are the qualities that made Dad such a wonderful mentor.

• He listened to he, not to preach.
• He spoke from experience, not theory.
• He was transparent and real.
• He openly shared his fears, frustrations, challenges and failures.
• He was the same man at all times.
• He was available.
• His consummate desire was to know and please God.

I could go on, but you get the point. I have been shaped, strengthened and matured spiritually, because my dad took time to mentor me one-on-one. Dad shared life with me—the life OF Christ, as well as life IN Christ and WITH Christ.

When believers in the church remember the importance of sharing life together, I truly believe the church will never lose her spark—not when she’s sharing life.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam
[2] Craig Larson, and Leadership Journal, 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, and Writers (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2007), 613. Bill Moyers quotes Needleman in his book, A World of Ideas.