Scared to Join the Church - Acts 5

¹² The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.¹³ No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. ¹⁵ As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.¹⁶ Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed. - Acts 5:12-16

Today, we beg people to join us.  Why would people be scared to join them?  The believers were highly regarded by the people.  It would seem that people would be quick to join them wouldn’t it?  It’s the “social club” to be in; it’s where great things are happening and people are getting healed, right?  What would keep people from daring to join them?

That first church wouldn’t allow someone to sit on the fence.  You couldn’t be half-in and half-out.  You couldn’t live in the church on Sunday and in the world on Monday thru Saturday.  You couldn’t just sort of believe.  You couldn’t just say a salvation prayer, check the box saying you got your fire insurance, then move on to doing what you want to do in life.   The church was being protected, and a half heart was rejected.  Remember Ananias and Sapphira?  People were scared to join them until God had their whole heart and they cared more about the gospel message than they did about their own life.

This should be a goal for the church today.  We should all want to proclaim the gospel message wherever we are and it should be more important than our own life.  We should want all Christians, Christ followers, to be “all-in”.

I wonder if this is why the church has lost so much influence in society today.  I think the young people see through the half-hearted Christians and they aren’t going to spend any time around people that only take the mission half serious.  They want to be a part of something with purpose and there must not be much of a purpose if people are only partially committed.

The Apostles are healing people!  So much so that the communities around Jerusalem are bringing their sick.  They are casting out demons!  They are doing wonders and signs.  Crowds are gathering.  They so believe in what the Apostles believe that they hope Peter’s shadow falls across the sick so they can be healed.

In the movie, Hacksaw Ridge, after Private Doss has saved 75 men from the ridge and gotten them down through the night, the Army is getting ready to attack again.  Captain Glover comes to Private Doss and says, “Most of these men don’t believe the same way you do. But they believe so much in how much you believe. And what you did on that ridge is nothing short of a miracle — and they want a piece of it. And they’re not going to go up there without you.”

I think this is what the Apostles are experiencing.  The people of Jerusalem didn’t believe the same way the first church did, but they saw how much these Christians believed that they wanted a piece of it.  To be healed or to see the signs and wonders.  So crowds were gathering wherever they went.