The Impossible Path to Success

 . . . and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

 - Acts 2

I want you to notice two inescapable realities of the Second Chapter of Acts. We celebrate this chapter, as the high point of Church history. The Church, as you know, was barely days, if not hours, old!

But like the birth of a new child, it was where life was at its fullest and most perfect. Everything functioning naturally, without assistance. It has not yet been soiled by the fulfillment of physical needs (no earthly food has entered its mouth yet). It has not involved itself with the world. No interactions with others. No exposure to evil, to pornography, to violence, to hate.

It is in a haven of full acceptance, and boldness. When the baby inhales deeply and lets out his or her first cry, it is most fully alive. And, while experiences, success, and happiness should follow, they do so with the attendant worry and angst. 

So is the Church at its first day. It is growing like crazy, and roaring out its birth cries, drawing people to it like the miracle that it is.

And we think we can somehow get the modern Church back to that model!

First, we're not about to do the things that I did not quote above: make all things common. Meet every day. Not gonna happen.

But if we did that . . . truly did as Jesus would do . . . I have no doubt there would be miracles. Prove me wrong! You can't, because no Church would dare do that much. We're not about to share all of our possessions with one another.

But if we did . . . we would have the goodwill of all the people. Did you catch that? Wouldn't that be great? Isn't this what we crave? And if you want to know why we don't have that kind of goodwill, from everybody, then just read the rest of this chapter and notice what's missing.

The world knows our values. It knows our standard of perfection, to which we never reach. It knows we're supposed to be doing lots of charitable, loving, selfless deeds, and when we don't, it points its finger at us. It's like an overly-wise teenager pointing out his parents' own hypocrisy. You want to lash back in anger, but you know he's right.

Having the goodwill of everybody naturally leads to daily growth in the Church. If your Church grew every day, it would have at least 365 more members, one year from today.

The formula for such success is easy . . . simple.