The Externally-Focused Church in Acts

I've been praying and thinking a lot about "the externally-focused church" of late.  (Click Here to see a recent one.)  In the course of that, I reviewed the book of Acts as well as notes and observations from my recent sermon series on the same and came to some fresh observations.  Specifically, I see three different "patterns" of how the earliest believers lived out an externally-focused, missional life together.

Catch The Harvest - There are times that God sovereignly moves to draw people into His Kingdom that catch His people totally by surprise.  Picture Acts 2 and the day of Pentecost.  That was certainly not in their Getting Things Done Task List for the day!  Seasons of authentic revival - the First Great Awakening, The Prayer Meeting Awakening, and the Jesus Movement of the '70's - would fit this pattern through history.  The Father moves in power, and His people are left to catch up and celebrate the Surprsing Work.

Holy Spirit Serendipity - In Acts 3, Peter and John are going up to the temple to pray, for them part of their regular routine of life.  Somehow, something is different.  God moves.  A man crippled from birth is suddenly "dancing and leaping and praising God" and when the dust settles "many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand."  (Acts 4:4)  People living their ordinary, faithful, everyday lives are used of God in surprising ways.  While everything moves by grace in God's power, there is a more noticeable portion of stepping out by the believer - Peter in this story.  Grace also seems to be a move across a bridge of personal encounter or relationship in this pattern.  I hope we have all had friends or family - perhaps been that friend or family! - that we have loved, laughed and cried with, as well as prayed for.  One day, for no discernible difference, you take a step towards them with the Gospel and they respond.  It is God's moment for them, and we are used in the process.

Missional Pursuit - I love the record of Paul's process of discernment in Acts 16:6-10!  His "trial and error" looks very much like my life.  It begins with a burning conviction among Paul and his companions: God has called and empowered us to preach the Gospel, so that is what we are going to do."  From that starting point, they take steps, but are stopped "by the Spirit of Jesus" (Acts 16:7) in several places.  Finally, Paul has a vision of a Macedonian man calling them to cross over and "help them."  Paul goes in obedience, finds Lydia at the river near Philippi, and the Gospel breaks out into new hearts, new people groups and new territory.  Like the others, this pattern is wholly reliant on the Father's grace and power.  But this grace and power moves through an expression of commitment and initiative on the part of the believer.  Plans are made.  Relationships and opportunities are pursued.  Sometimes the missionaries are received, sometimes they are run out of town.

I came to faith in a time and setting that was clearly "Catch The Harvest."  I pray, hope and watch for that same sort of season to be given again in this time and my place.  In addition, I'm also praying to be responsive - and bold - in those moments and relationships where the Holy Spirit is saying "Now!"  

The point where I am having to relearn and grow though is with the "Missional Pursuit"  pattern.  Paul and his co-workers seem completely externally-focused in a way that I find I am not.  God is guiding them as they go, but there is no reaiming them from an internal focus to an external focus.  They are not constructing buildings or planning programs for the benefit of believers.  Everything they do grows from their driving passion to be involved with what God is doing to reach people.  I am seeing more and more, that my training, experience and the organizational inertia of my setting seem more geared to put me in a "build it and they will come" approach to outreach.  That is hardly externally-focused in the way I see it in Acts!

So I'm praying, repenting, and learning.  Father - Give me a new heart to join You in the pursuit of those who have not yet come home.