If you signed up to take a “big bite” of the scriptures with me and others in the church, here’s the starting place (well, the Bible is the starting place, but I hope you get the drift!).
There is much that jumps out at me (intrigues me) in Acts 1, even after having read it more than any other book in the Bible. The book of Acts is the primary record we have of how those closest with Jesus put the Lord’s vision for the church into place – and thus the source for understanding what a faithful effective church could look like. BUT it’s also an unvarnished record of some of the early failures of First Church in Jerusalem, as you’ll see over the next 8 days – starting with today!
So, here’s what intrigued me. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told his apostles that “You will be my witnesses …” They were Plan A and was the only plan Jesus had. I think most of us understand that Jesus’ pronouncement was his vision for the church, not just a job description for the chosen apostles.
Then in 1:22 Peter stands up in the assembly (the church of 120) and says they need to replace Judas “… for one of these must become a witness.”
Although there has been much ado made about the method of choosing Matthias as the replacement (the apostles cast lots, that is, they essentially used the roll of the dice), I think there’s a more pressing issue here. This passage shows the beginning of the end of the Jerusalem church. Here we see a glimmer of Peter’s belief that there is an elevation of clergy above the laity. “It is necessary to choose one of these so they can be a witness with us of the resurrection.” And so the lot fell to Matthias and the “others” were not chosen to be a witness.
The reality is, everyone in the church is called to be a witness: both who have had a personal encounter with him and those who have seen Jesus intervene in other’s lives. A witness is someone who reports what they have witnessed, what they have seen, and what they have experienced. We’re all tasked with disciple making, with helping unbelievers to say “Yes!” to Jesus. And that is not a clergy-only job. That command was given to us all.
Yes, clergy do have a priority in the church … but that’s not a priority of privilege over the laity. Instead, they’re trained to lead the church, to organize and administrate, to manage, and to train the rest to church to “equip the people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12–13).
All that’s to say, being a witness to the unbeliever isn’t just a clergy job (though it’s definitely ONE of our core tasks); being a witness is Job 1 of every person in the church.
What’s Jesus done in your life that others need to hear about?
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