Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era – Part XV
“For there was not a needy person among them, or all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.” (Acts 4:34-35)
The Covid-19 Pandemic has brought change. Institutions unwilling to change have failed. Old paradigms are now inappropriate. Churches with a myriad of pews are trying to figure out social distancing. Huge crowd, the goal of most Pre-Covid-19 churches, are now troublesome. Ministering virtually has had its challenges. Larger is no longer manageable; smaller, more intimate is the goal. A new paradigm, a new wineskin, is the empowerment of common believers of their five-fold grace passions listed in Ephesians 4. These five fold grace gifting can already be found in most churches today. Evangelistic believers long for birth and rebirth. A shepherding believer nurtures. A teaching believer is willing to walk beside others in a one-on-one relationship as Jesus did with his disciples. A prophetic believer desires intimate worship and hearing from God. Unfortunately, most churches do not understand the apostolic passion embedded in some believers.
A Covid-19 era apostle sees the big picture, the Bride, the Church, in it entirety. His or Her passion is to “network” believers with different passions to work together as one body. The 12 apostles and Paul saw the big picture. They believed, “One and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slave or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” (I Corinthians 12:11-13)
“All who were owners of land or houses would sell them” and then “bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet.” What did the apostles do with this? “They would be distributed to each as any had need.” The results: “There was not a needy person among them.”(Acts 4:34-35) The apostles networked incoming financial assets to meet needs by letting others minister out of their passions.
Apostles delegate responsibility through others. For example: Acts 6:1-3 Need: “A complaint arouse on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.” Solution: They let the body minister – “Brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.” They released other members of the local body who were full of the Spirit to do the work to meet the need. Since “pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God and Father” is defined in James 1:27 as “to visit the orphans and widows in their distress,” relationships were built among the locals to meet those needs.
The Covid-19 Church needs to release believers gifted in “networking,” and allow the Holy Spirit to be in charge. Being “full of the Spirit and wisdom,” they have learned to follow the Holy Spirit in all things. Let’s recognize those believers motivated by an apostolic gift of grace to network the body of Christ to meet needs. Since they are driven to equip the local saints for works of services, let’s release them.
Historically, the institutional church has failed in releasing its laity, fearing it would diminish the role of the professional clergy. Currently, if a clergy leaves his position, another professional replaces him. To train, equip, and release the laity is a novel idea, a new wineskin, to today’ church, but Paul did it in the 1st century. After birthing a church, he would leave to start a new work at a new location. The boys from Antioch or Jerusalem were not sent to replace him. He had nurtured and equipped the locals to grow in Christ. It was they who he would release. That is how it worked then, and it may be the new wineskin of the future!