"All I want is a 'First Century Church' just like in the NT!"

I heard this from a friend this week. It was in reference to the overall state of the church today and how far, in his perception, the church has drifted from the "...love, acceptance and toleration of the New Testament Church." He followed his comments up with, "Now they knew how to make a church grow. Look at all the people who joined the church in the Book of Acts!"

In actually reading the Book of Acts, here's what we find about their outreach and growth program:

*Preach what you know people are against (Acts 4:1-4).
*Kill liars (Acts 5:1-14).
*Argue over who serves who (Acts 6:1-7).
*Be persecuted, if possible, have one of your main guys get killed in a public fashion (Acts 11:19-21).
*Circumcise a grown man fellow minister (Acts 16:1-5).

The Bible never addresses church growth, as in, it never says how to get more people to come to your church. What it does address is the preaching and teaching of God's Word. Furthermore, the Bible does not teach tolerance and acceptance, at least not of other faiths and beliefs. The NT church was a tough place to be. It was challenging. It took a serious and deep commitment. It was not popular nor easy to belong to. The members of the First Century church gave everything they had to be a part of it.....some, many even gave their lives.