Why does your church not feel like family?

The short answer is that because it's not a family. Family is a relationship based in reality. If your church doesn't seem to have the relational bonds similar to those found in a family, it is most likely that your church relationships are not based in reality.

Most churches are ideological associations based on doctrine. If you depart from or question the doctrine then you can no longer be considered a part of the association. The ability to sever the relationship at will is evidence that ideological associations are not based in reality. Relationships based in reality are not sever-able. Family is a relationship based in reality due to genetics. The genetic nature of the relationship causes the relationship to exist despite the will of those in the relationship. There's nothing you can do about it, your father is your father, your brother is your brother, and your mother is your mother whether you want them to be or not. Now you can leave your family, but that doesn't change the reality of the relationship. When we look at the blood and the mud, your family is your family. God meant for us to relate to one another in real ways and in so much he connected us to each other in real ways. You are connected to your family by blood (genetics), you are connected to your community by mud (geography). The reality of these things is inescapable. So what is the real thing that connects us to our church? Doctrine?

Doctrine is ideological, it is words attempting to describe reality, and we all struggle to agree on what it all means. Doctrine is words describing something, but it isn't the something it's describing. For instance, my dad's name is Garen, but the name Garen is not my dad. There are other people named Garen, and they are not my dad. If I were to write "Garen" on a piece of paper and take it to lunch it wouldn't be the same as going to lunch with my dad, Garen. This is because my dad consists of more than the word that is his name, or even of many words and emotions that make up my opinion of him. That's because my dad is not merely my idea of him, he is real and exists independent of me or my opinion of him. Since my dad is real I can have a relationship with him based in reality. When my dad dies I will no longer be able to relate to him in this way. I will have to settle for remembering stories about him while looking at his name written on a tombstone. These words and stories will be a way for me to remember him, but in no way will it be the same as when I had a real relationship with him. When my dad dies I will only be left with a doctrine of him by which to remember him. If I were to begin to relate to my dad using only my doctrine of him prior to his death it would be a great offense to him, as he still wants to speak into my life new things as long as he can while we have a real relationship. Churches that associate based on doctrine are gathering to remember a dead Jesus, and not only does this offend Him but it also ignores the glorious truth that He lives and wants to speak into our lives!

Jesus is real and alive today and therefore cannot be appropriately related to just using stories about Him. Jesus didn't die to give us a book full of words so that we could associate with one another based upon our opinion of how he was, and then based upon those opinions to create ideological associations that fracture at every point of dissonance. The real thing that connects each individual to the church is what Jesus died to give us, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is alive and lives within the Christian, it can be related to in a way that is much more real than even the relationship that I have with my living father. Since our relationships with one another are limited by our ability to express ourselves to each other it is difficult, if not impossible, for one person to fully know another. However since God created us, and desires to dwell within us in the form of his Holy Spirit, we are able to be fully known by God. This relationship and the knowledge and experiences resulting from it are what draw us together as a church. If you have the Holy Spirit, when you get around other people with the Holy Spirit you will experience a connectedness similar to what you feel around people you are connected to by blood and mud. A commonality that is undeniable because it is real, and real because it is undeniable.

Our relationship with Christ and with each other is based on the reality of the Holy Spirit, not on the History of Jesus. Many Christians want to get together and talk all night about theology (I like to do this too). However the consensus arrived upon during these conversations about words is not the thing that is to be used to unite us. Our unification is to exist in the reality of the Holy Spirit that lives within us, and is, in fact, the evidence that Jesus is real and accomplished what he said he accomplished through his sacrifice.

The difficult thing about the association of the Holy Spirit is that although the spiritual is real, it is not visible. Because the spiritual is not visible and cannot be measured using physical means many people assume that it should be intellectually dealt with as we do ideological things such as doctrine. The problem with doctrine is that it consists of dead words. It can only speak what has already been said, and it must be interpreted in order to apply it to our own perceptions of reality. Liberals will use this shortcoming of doctrine as evidence of a freedom to change it to fit their every need. Conservatives will use this shortcoming to condemn every situation that the doctrine doesn't directly address. Both sides fracture within themselves as they exercise their living minds upon dead words and come to different conclusions. We all long to see dead words become real and alive, what we don't realize is that we see it all the time.

Families that maintain a personal relationship with those with whom they are genetically associated ultimately find their unity to be based upon dead words, a covenant. When two people who are not related by blood choose to covenant together in marriage, they become a family. This covenant is witnessed by people at the marriage ceremony, it is documented by a certificate filed with the court clerk, however even at this point it remains an ideal based on dead words, and the continued will of the individuals to remain together is all that holds the promise of the covenant in effect. The family of two they have created can only exist until one of them dies. At that point, if they remain without children, the mutual will to adhere to the dead words that sustain their covenant is no longer possible. However, through the offspring resultant in the consummation of the marriage children are created who by their very nature document into physical reality and bring to life the dead words of a covenant thereby creating a blood family out of two previously unrelated people. In fact this living genetic documentation is far superior in demonstrating the reality of the marriage covenant than are the words of a marriage vow, the marriage certificate, or even the recorded history of eye witness testimony to the marriage itself.

Now, two brothers will be brothers for life because they are dead words brought to life. By means of a dead covenant the offspring were created, and by means of the offspring the covenant leaves the tomb of dead words enters undeniably into the realm of the living. However, the reality of those words can only remain living as long as the genetic code generated by the consummation of the covenant is replicated into the future. The forces of nature, and the will of posterity ultimately all but guarantee that the dead words that were brought to life through our children will once again die. Our words will return to the tomb from where they originated and once again be found by the living to be burdened with the shortcomings of doctrine. We all long to see dead words become real and alive, and we long even more to find the word that will never die. Jesus is the word that will never die, and through a covenant with him, we can bring to life His word for us.

Since the church is called "the bride of Christ", a covenant is implied. One cannot be a bride, unless there is a covenant. What today we call "salvation" is in reality a covenant we make with Christ and Christ with us. When we make this covenant we do the same thing that people do when they make a marriage covenant, the bride takes the name of the groom and they become a new family. We call this "becoming a Christian" because we are taking the name of Christ. In the same way as the marriage between two people this marriage also is an act of will, God's will and our own. Also this marriage has an offspring that brings the words of the covenant to life, however the offspring of your marriage to Christ is you, re-born into his family. His spirit now lives in you, and is the evidence that the word of his covenant is alive in you. You have brothers and sisters in Him and they are evidenced by this same life in them. When you gather together as family, you are the church, His bride. Not associating based on dead words, but relating to one another and to Christ based upon a living word that is the evidence of his Covenant with you.

The Holy Spirit living in us as living evidence of the words of Christ’s covenant with us is what binds us together as a church. It is as real as the blood that binds you to family and the mud that binds you to your neighbor. Don’t settle for a church pushing dead words and ideals as the means for your association. Seek to marry Christ and look for his other brides. Let his Holy Spirit living in you bring to you home to your church family.

Some more ideas and questions to explore on this:

Explore the concept of “whatever is bound on earth is bound in heaven” as it relates to covenants.

Explore the statement made by Paul that the “eye cannot say to the hand ‘I have no need of you’” as it relates to the relationship of believers through the Holy Spirit. I.e. it is similar to saying to your brother “you’re not my brother”, it simply is not a statement that can be true.

Go into more detail as to the differences between the old covenant and the new covenant in that the new covenant comes with the promise of the Holy Spirit which is the result of consummation of the covenant as the new creation in Christ. The old covenant was a covenant of words and will. God's will was to remain in the covenant, and Israels will came and went. The new covenant is a covenant that is consumated with a spiritual rebirth. Example might be a marraige between two people who have no children, their marriage is a covenant of words and will. When they have children the covenant becomes flesh, just as the covenant of God became flesh in Christ and our covenant with him is then born into spirit...

Explore the necessity of Christ’s sacrifice in establishing the new covenant.


-Thanks to my facebook friend Melissa Simone for getting this thought process started via a Mark Driscol video with the same title as this post. I think the video is good, but I don't think he addresses the subject in it's entirety. Saying that serving is the key to making something feel like family simply isn't true. Either the relationship is real or it isn't and no amount of activity will change it.

Putting on the Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

How does one go about putting on this armor?

Let's look at what we are "putting on" when we put on the armor:

1. The belt of Truth
2. The breastplate of righteousness
3. Shoes of the gospel of peace
4. Shield of faith
5. Helmet of salvation
6. Sword of the Spirit
7. Prayer
   

Now, should I say some words or sing a song to put on this armor? Is there some sort of daily ritual I can go through each morning that would entail the putting on of the armor, or is there more to it than an act of religious mimicry?

The armor of God is a lifestyle that one must lead and constantly maintain in order to protect one's self from the attacks of Satan. It is not a magic spell or just a simple metaphor, it is an inspection list of the points of vulnerability that Satan uses against each of us as we live out our daily lives as Christians, wives, husbands, children, slaves, and masters. You cannot put the armor of God on in a couple of minutes in the morning. Preparing to go into spiritual warfare and putting on the armor of God may take years to accomplish, and then each point is inspected and maintained daily.

1. The Belt of Truth:

Pray that God would reveal to you any lie you are believing, and allow you to expose it, turn from it, and walk in the truth. Satan is a liar and he uses lies to hold us in bondage and keep us from knowing God's will and doing the good work that God would have us to do. We cannot be effective for God if we are accepting a lie as truth. There are times when we will militanty be ignorant of the truth. We become comfortable in lies of victim-hood, conflict avoidance, and other shirks of responsibility. Even when the truth is presented to us by trusted people using the word of God as thier foundation, if we are not daily seeking to put on the "belt of truth" we will dismiss the truth and hold on to the lie in order to avoid the pain or humiliation of exposing the lie and repenting of the lifestyle or misconceptions the lie has caused us to embrace.

Without the belt of truth, which holds all the other armor together, we are completely vulnerable as none of our other defenses will be secured upon our bodies.

2. The Breastplate of Righteousness:

Satan uses sin to isolate and dominate a person. So we must pray that the Holy Spirit would convict us of any sin that Satan would use against us. When we put on the belt of truth we will see lies that we are believing that are causing us to sin. Once we see the truth, it is now necessary to put on the breastplate of righteousness by repenting of the sin that the truth revealed to us. Repenting of the sin means to recognize the sin, name it to God and to others in our Christian fellowship, and to stop doing it. Obviously any willful acts of sin must be eliminated from our lives. Public sin is obvious and if we are ignorant of it the fellowship of believers that we associate with should be able to point this sin out to us. Public sin would be like a gaping hole in our breast plate, it is very evident and it obviously needs to be fixed quickly if we are to be protected. Secret sin as well as habitual sin causes us withdraw from God and from Christian fellowship in order to continue in and hide the sin. Our withdrawal may be in the form of physical removal, or it may be in the form of lies or omissions used to cover up the sin. Secret sin would be like having a breast plate that from all outward appearances looks like a solid peice of armor, but upon closer inspection is found to be made of well crafted, but very weak tin foil. If we were to go into battle knowingly wearing a breastplate that is made from tin foil, we will be an easy target for the enemy.

3. Shoes of the Gospel of Peace:

Repentance of sin in order to strive toward righteous living is the beginning, this is the breastplate of righteousness. The gospel of peace is the Gospel of love and forgiveness. Sin often causes us to hurt others. When we repent of some kinds of sin it is not enough just to stop the sin, we may be required to make amends with another person that we harmed while we were in our sin. The shoes of the gospel of peace cause us to get up and go make things right with others, and also to actively extend forgiveness to those who have done us wrong. Satan uses our sin against God and against one another to divide our relationships and thwart our abilities to work together to further the Kingdom. The defense against this attack is two fold, first is the breastplate of rightesouness which stops the sin, and second is the shoes of the gospel of peace which go out and make right the wrong our sins caused to others and forgive the wrongs that others sins caused to us. Satan's attacks on relationships are neutralized by use of the Gospel of Peace, which is forgiveness.

4. Shield of Faith:

Satan only real power against us is the power to deceive us and in doing so convincing us to sin. Satan's deceptions will not vary much from the deception he used to cause Adam and Eve to fall. His basic question is this "Did God really say...?" These questions are the flaming darts that Satan shoots at us. Each one designed to have us doubting God's goodness, his love for us, his sovereignty, or even his existence. Standing behind the shield of our faith easily deflects these darts, however the shield of faith is not born easily. The shield of faith is built upon our proper use of the previous peices of armor. Truth, Righteousness, repentance and forgiveness are the support structures that build our faith, and these things are also what the shield of faith is designed to protect. If we continue to tolerate lies, sin, pride, hatred, and broken relationships in our lives then our shield of faith is of no use as Satan has already accomplished his purposes in us. There is really no need to hold up a shield if you have already been mortally struck. As we see the truth, repent of sin, forgive others and seek forgiveness we pull out the arrows satan has struck us with and hoist our shield of faith higher and higher until it is doing it's job protecting us from future sin.

5. Helmet of Salvation:

If we were to go into battle with all of the other armor, but were missing our helmet we would act just as if we had no armor on at all. Imagine a football player with all his pads on except his helmet. Will any of those pads matter to him if his head is unprotected? He will constantly be in a defensive state of mind as he does all he can to protect his head. He will be completely unable to make any offensive strategies. And if given the option the player will avoid the game all together, even though he is only lacking this one piece of equipment. The assurance of our own salvation is vital to our ability to move forward in taking the Kingdom of God to the world.

One of Satan's primary methods of removing our helmet (or "getting into our head") is to accuse us of sin that has already been forgiven, causing us to doubt that God has forgiven us. When Christ saves us he saves us from all of our sin, past and future, however as we strive toward righteousness we may stumble, and the Holy Spirit will convict us of these sins so that we can repent of them and not adversely effect our relationship with God. Once we repent and make things right our relationship with God is restored, however Satan would have us to believe otherwise, even to the point of doubting that we have been forgiven at all. The assurance of our salvation is the hope that causes us to remain in the battle. We would not be able to take the Gospel forward to others if we doubted that it had any power in our own lives.

6. Sword of the Spirit:

Our primary mission as Christians is to love God and love others and to teach others how to live the way that Jesus taught us. When taking on the world we will confront them with the word of God, this is our sword. The word of God is a strange sword because when you stab a dead man with it he comes to life! It teaches us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. When we share the good news of Jesus it pierces the dead flesh and brings them to a new life. The first peice of equipment a new believer receives is the shield of faith, this protects them from Satan's continued attacks while we are then able to move in and mend their wounds and fit them with the rest of their armor. The new believer will usually be to weak to hold up their shield on their own. We must help them hold up their shield as they learn the truth, repent of sin, and mend relationships. Once they have done these things are fitted with their armor they can bear their own shield and join us in the battle.

7. Prayer:

All of our armor is useless if we are not on the battlefield. A football player may learn all the plays, practice, and put on all his gear, but if he shows up on the basketball court it will be all for naught. As Christians we must go where the battle is, it is a waste of good armor to have it stay in the church building when the battle is out in the streets. Prayer is the means by which we communicate with God so that we know where the battle is, and what our mission is when we get there.

When Paul says "and having done all, to stand firm." This is when prayer comes in. When we are out taking the word of God to the world we will come to a point where we have done all we know to do. We have told all our stories, we have pleaded the Gospel of Christ, and we have arrived at the point where it is up to God to do the rest. At this point Satan will be working overtime to thwart us, but we must stand, and pray. We must hold the line and call in for air support.

Prayer for the lost is much more meaningful when you have expended all your love and know-how on a person and your prayers are being lifted up for that specific person. We don't have much invested in a general prayer like "God please save all the lost people", but when we can put a name and a face and when we have been battling for that person it creates and urgency and expectation and a desire to the see the prayer answered.

Paul also pleads that we pray for all the saints and for him. So prayer for each other as we are all out doing what God would have us do in the world. Getting together, talking about our struggles in taking the Gospel to the world, and then praying for each other that we would be supplied by God with what we need to see His purposed accomplished.

Conclusion:

The armor of is not a quick change of clothes, it is a lifestyle. Serving God should not be entered into lightly. It is serious business as there is a real enemy out there wanting to destroy us. When we come to know Christ we all have a strong desire to go serve him in many different ways, and by all means we should chase that desire with everything in us. But in chasing that desire we should do so as God has taught us. By putting on our armor, even if it takes years to do so, and going into the battle well prepared.

Jesus can change the past.

The problem with sin (whether sin we committed, or sin committed against us) is that it happened in the past.

The past. It is said to be set in stone. What has happened has happened and there is no way to change it. For many people this fact becomes a prison. Whether it is something they have done, or something that was done to them, their past holds them captive, restraining them from any hope of a future, keeping them in an unchanging doldrum of quiet despair. It happens like this:

Q. "Why don't you get a job?"

A. "I can't, I just can't keep working because of what happened to me."

Q. "Why can't you just let it go?"

A. "I can't, what they did to me was to terrible."

Q. "You really should quit drinking."

A. "I know, but because of what happened to me, drinking gives me comfort."

Q. "The friends you keep are hurting you, maybe you should make new friends."

A. "Only the friends I have accept me, despite my past."

Q. "Come celebrate with us."

A. "I can't, the celebration reminds me of my past, it's to painful."

Past sin holds people captive.

We can understand that because of the infinite righteousness of God, no one who is living in sin could ever come into the joy of His presence with out causing a travesty of justice and goodness. The bible clearly teaches in passages like Romans 3:23 that "all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God". What about a repented sinner? One who has recognized the sin of their past, and turned away from it? Could a former sinner enter into God's presence, or better yet, would he? Past sin haunts and degrades us, forcing us to remain distant from God. God forgives us, Christ's death makes us righteous, and these acts of mercy provide to us by grace the right for us to enter into His Glory, however having the right to enter, by no means implies that we would find any joy in it.

Sin has consequences. I have a friend whose parents were murdered. She has forgiven the man who murdered her parents. Let's say my friend was hosting a grand celebration of the life of her parents, a joyful occasion meant to reflect on the lives of her parents, two righteous and wonderful people. There would be no way, even in accepting the forgiveness, even in the repenting of his deeds, that he could enter that celebration and not be overwhelmed with the pain caused by his past sin. The only way he could enter into this celebration and partake in the joy of it, would be to enter it without his past. And of course this is impossible for him. Sin has succeeded in forever separating this man from the fellowship with the people whom his sin was against. Even in the light of forgiveness, even in the light of repentance, the pain of the forgiven sin is only magnified in the light of the joy of the celebration. Imagine the celebration in heaven, now imagine the pain of even the smallest sin in the light of it. Heaven will be no place you would want to be, if it means being there with your sinful past.

If this man could travel through time and change his past, he would, freeing himself from it's tryanny. If somehow he could cut himself away from his past, he could enter into the joy of the celebration. Changing the past of course, is impossible. Or is there one who can do it?

Jesus Christ said in Revelation Chapter 21, that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Christ also says in verse 5 of Revelation 21 that he "makes all things new". The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.

What does it mean? A "new creation", or "to make all things new"? There is only one way for something to be new. If I purchase a new car, and while driving it home someone stops me and says "hey that's my old car!", I will have realized that I have been lied to. The lie will be evident in the fact that my supposed new car has a past. To be new means to be absent of history, to have no past.

Is Paul exaggerating and Jesus lying to us, when he says that we are new creations, or that all things will be made new? The word being used is "new" not "renewed" or "refurbished" or anything like that. Something "renewed" would still have the problem of the man, carrying into the future his own painful history. The only way to facilitate the making new of something that already is, is if you change the past. So it is clear. Jesus says to come to him in faith and he will remove your past. He has to, if he doesn't you'd be saved, but you couldn't experience the joy of it.

So how does it work? You accept Christ and the past disappears? The consequences vanish? Well obviously not. I have put my faith in Christ, believing that he has made me a new creation, however my past is still clearly in view, the pain of it in many ways greater than it was before I knew Christ. What do I make of this? I would call this the burden of my cross. Just as Jesus carried his cross up the road to Golgotha, so to must we bear the cross of our past sin as we struggle through life. Our hope is in this, that everything that was not build upon the foundation of Christ will be burned away (1 Cor 3:11-15). The sin we have done, and the sin that has been done to us will not survive into heaven. However, while the sinful past will be thrown into the fire, so long as we are not clinging to it, we will be saved. So the burden of carrying our sin (instead of the comfort of clinging to it) BECOMES the hope of our salvation, because we are bearing this burden in order to carry it to Jesus, the only one who can dispose of it. If we persevere in carrying our burdens and laying them down at the feet of Jesus, he will usher us into his Kingdom, and relieve us of the burden of our past as we pass through His gates.

So if the past is destroyed will we forget the wonderful story of our own redemption? Absolutely not. Because our redemption happened as we heard the gospel in love from another person and as Jesus did his saving work in each of our hearts.. So while our past will be destroyed, our redemption will be remembered, but remembered through the eyes of that good friend who loved us enough to lead us to Christ, and most importantly, our redemption will be remembered by Christ (who did the redeeming), and we will marvel as He shares with us the story of how he saved us. Our past, no longer our own, but now belonging to Jesus, and only as He recalls it, will we be able to bear the remembering of it in the light of His Glory!

Eternal Communities, Eternal Work, and Worldly Risk

Did you ever consider that Aquila and Priscilla created the job so that Paul could work for them and support his ministry? They would have basically hired him to work. They would have had the tent making equipment, and the market to sell the tents, and they hired Paul and paid him or had some arrangement where he could profit from selling the tents he made from their materials so that he could support himself in the area.

Acts 18:1 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.

Also in Acts 4:34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Transpose that with 2 Thessalonians 3:6Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you,8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate.10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

So the ones who had need in Acts 4 were obviously not being enabled to maintain that need by relying on the charity of the fellowship. More likely they would have been lifted up, discipled and provided an opportunity or a direction to work and provide for themselves, so then they could be the ones helping. I think many people look on the Christian community in Acts as almost a communist one, however I don't think you can come to that conclusion if you take the whole council of scripture. For one thing, if the believers were selling all thier stuff and providing as everyone had need, pretty soon they'd run out of stuff to sell, it isn't sustainable, and definitely not an eternal mindset. However if they were selling thier stuff to lift people up and provide opportunities to work and continue in growing and enriching the community, then that is sustainable and tends toward eternity instead of toward nothing.

These people would have been seen as very strange, even crazy. They were putting everything they had at risk for the community, helping people, starting businesses, and instead of storing up treasures for themselves, they had faith that investing into the eternal community would not only provide for them now, but forever. Truly taking Jesus's advise in Matthew 6 not to store up treasures on earth but instead treasures in Heaven. They took their wealth out of their barns (Luke 12:16) and put it to work profitably in the eternal community. The believers in Acts had total unity in their fellowship which strengthened their faith to put their worldly wealth at risk, they saw the storehouse of their wealth, both physical and eternal, being in the body of Christ.

So from this and particularly the Acts 18 example we can see a 2 fold responsibility. The responsibility of Priscilla and Aquila to put their resources at risk in order to provide the opportunity for Paul to work, and the responsibility of Paul to show up and do the work. In our terms it would be the responsibility of those who have the means to use them to invest in the eternal community, and for those who need means to reliably show up and do the work.

I think it's obvious to see the implications in all of this at home and for our work in the rest of the world.