A Church Like That

I want a different kind of church.  I want to BE a different kind of church.  Let me rephrase that - I know that it's not what I want that is important.  I believe that GOD wants a different kind of church.  So many churches have become SO focused on programs that they've stopped seeing the people who are part of those programs.  But if you look at the early church, the one described in the book of Acts, there were no programs, just people.  People who knew each other.  People who cared for one another.  People who loved and were loved.

This is the community that the Bible described.  Acts chapter 2 describes a community in which people shared meals together and cared for one another's needs.  Did this happen because there were programs in place to take care of people's needs?  Or did it happen because people knew each other well enough to just KNOW each other's needs?  Based on the information we have, I would be inclined to believe that they we in relationship with one another every day and therefore knew what was happening in each others' lives. 

What would it take for the church (meaning the general church, not a specific church) to get back to that?  How much more effective would the church be if the relationships within the church body modeled the loving and serving lifestyle that we are called to have outside of the church as well?

Since I've been with Josh, we've been attending larger churches and I always feel like what I'm missing is the relationships.  All of the programs seem to just keep people in their cozy cocoons.  People don't have to be vulnerable or build friendships in order to serve and be served because there's a program for that.  In a large church environment with lots of programs they depend fully on "small groups" to establish relationships, but with the body as a whole looking so much like a business, it is sometimes difficult to find small groups that go deeper.  It also limits how much one can be cared for in a time of need.  Acts 2:44-45 says, "And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need."  This specifically says that all who believed were together NOT divided up into small groups.  They cared for those among them not just through the groups meeting and eating in homes, but as a complete body.

What would it look like to be a church like that?  I'd really like to find out.  I pray for the opportunity to love and serve like they did in the Acts church.