The first century church was very different and was powerful.Is the church today in the will of God?

Question

The way I see the first century church is that they had a real sense of community and taking care of people they worked in much more power then the church of today....They also had little separation in their beliefs except for the religeous traditionalists...Does that mean the church fits into that same catagory as being more religeous and true to traditions of men then doing Gods will?

Answer 1

I've asked the same kind of thing myself. I think a lot of churches today are not operating in the will of God, or at least are not being what God wants them to be. I've just seen so much clique-ishness and petty garbage and materialistic outreach attempts (whoever brings the most guests to Kids' Chruch this month wins a Playstation...), not to mention some of the theatrics that goes on onstage--I mean in the pulpit--that I just think the church isn't what it should be.
And yes, I'm a Christian, and yes, I attend church. What to do about it? I dunno.

Answer 2

Actually the fist century church was untaught and full of errors. There were many things that had to be corrected and the disciples spend a number of years at the beginning sorting out problems and determining the right way to do things. Read the book of Acts and you will see that the church was totally different at the end of Acts than at the beginning. The first church was a communal church, but that didn`t work. The first church was very Judaistic, but the Book of Galatians was written to sort that out. The early church pushed legalism until that was changed. The early church still used miracles that were later removed. Peter and Paul argued over issues. Paul and Silas had a conflict. There is nothing in the Book of Acts that even remotely suggests that the church today should be like the early church.

Edit: Don`t mix up the apostacy of the last days with the need to return to Acts. We are clearly taught that before Christ returns the church will fall away from the truth, and that is what is happening today, but that doesn`t mean that the early church had it all right.

Answer 3

The first century church had the great blessing of still having many eyewitnesses. What a glory that must have been! But they were persecuted and yet they stood strong. To me (just my humble opinion) the church today has been watered down by too much political correctness. Many things are simply black and white but since we don't want to offend we water it down. God is a God of love BUT He is also Holy Holy Holy and perfectly just. We wouldn't have it any other way. Would you want anyone judging you who wasn't perfectly just?
I personally like the Church of Christ. They have the Lord's Supper every week, only take a collection once a week, everything that doesn't go to pay for the building (and they are very unassuming buildings) is put back into charity mainly in their community. They do not require you to be a member of their church in order to help you (that's how I originally met them) and MOST importantly they have no man-made doctrine or by-laws. They only teach from the Bible and each church is independent and is structured exactly as described in the New Testament.
I guess I strayed from your question, God is God, man made religion. The only true church exists in the hearts and souls of Christians who strive to do God's will to the best of our pitiful abilities. The rest is fellowship.
God Bless

Answer 4

the early church came here to escape religious persecution but they persecuted as well. most religions have persecuted those who did not stay with the founding beliefs. Those are usually based on the founder not God. That's what Jesus was trying to get across. Looking to religion and not to God. The early church in America killed many over agruments about infant baptism and women in the church. the witch hunts were started by the church because they didn't like the idea of women leading in the churches. Sorry to break it to you practicing witches out there they were really persecuted christians.

Answer 5

I believe that statement can be very true. Jesus did not just sit in church on Sunday for it was the time to do the ritual or worship. He took his work seriously and went out to the people and did good deeds. He did not need anymore small group studies or sermons to understand what the Father wants from a servant. We have to keep reminding ourselves to try to do the right thing and help the less fortunate. The only thing is that we do it in a comfortable measure.(minimal actions get minimal results)

Answer 6

Wow that is a tough question. I would say that only a small percentage of believers are actually in the will of God. Christianity started to get poluted before the end of the 1st Century and it really got distorted in the 2nd Century and well when Rome made it their official religion it began it's decent into total corruption.

Answer 7

First of all...who is "God?" Look up the definition in the dictionary. There is a distinction between "God" and "Yahweh," the Author of the Bible. God is a Teutonic name for a high deity. In the OT the Israelites were struck down for worshiping a deity called "God." Look in Isaih 65:11 KJV and use Strongs Concordance to define "troop." So if "God" is a pagan deity, you had better believe that the church is in the perfect will of "God."....deception, fraud, lies, all of it.... Because.....the actions of the church have nothing to do with Yahweh. Might sound crazy....email me if you want.

Answer 8

sure and no... With the dying of the apostles entered the excellent apostacy. in this time Jehovah had no chosen human beings. interior the previous he had the country of Israel, and interior the 1st century there replaced into the christians who accompanied Jesus. After that there replaced into no group with the specific backing of God. in spite of the undeniable fact that there have been many dedicated people who stored the religion alive. a number of whom are written in heritage as martyrs, they have been prepared to stand dying somewhat than have self assurance interior the lies that the church homes have been telling. Religions on the time have been attempting to maintain bibles from the hassle-free human beings. They have been busy introducing falsehoods so as that they did not choose human beings to ascertain the bible and detect the certainty. This replaced into working up till dedicated adult men theory that each and each guy female and newborn ought to have a bible and set to translating and printing bibles. lots of those ones misplaced their lives on the palms of the religious leaders. there is likewise a narrative of a splash Welsh female who walked for miles and miles to get herself a bible. sure faith. the question of why Jehovah's Witnesses have self assurance they are the chosen ones of God at the instant is yet another question yet i'm hoping this solutions what you asked. To A undesirable Maggot Sack - who precisely is Arius? I even have in no way heard of him. by utilising the way, we honour no saints. basically Jehovah.

Answer 9

Well it's my understanding that the 1st century church wasn't that powerful. It was called "the way" before being known as Christianity, and I assume by the name was more focused on this life, than the afterlife. Also, once greedy men realized that people would pay to have forgiveness of sins Christianity went progressively downhill.

Answer 10

Regardless of whether or not you believe in God. The Church has always been the will of man.

Money and control are probably key words to use at this point.