Our attitudes towards Apostles' teaching

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. -Acts 2:42

I used this verse recently in a post on fellowship. However, all these points deserve a long hard look because these were the things of top priority to that first generation church. Why should now be any different?  For now, let’s look at the first mentioned. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” As I already have gone into great detail earlier, this is an element of church that has taken a big hit recently. Many are struggling to keep Sunday schools and small groups afloat due to a lack of interest. Which begs the question, why is the church of today so apathetic towards learning more about their own beliefs? I’m sure the reasons are many and diverse, but consider this idea. 

Many generations ago the church was defined by quiet and reflective worship and ritual. A time when Biblical literacy was far greater than it is now. It makes sense, for the simple fact that church was skewed toward people on the introvert side of the scale, people who naturally gravitated to thought and learning. However, this obviously did not bode well for those who naturally favored the extrovert side of the scale. Many extroverts left the church out of pure boredom, while the more devoted said; wait a second, this dispassionate style of worship is not Biblically sound; and it was true. Evangelical and Charismatic movements helped to foster a more extrovert style of worship. Granted, the Church should not be skewed either way and it’s good to bring a little happiness and passion in the spirit back to the church. However, the pendulum might have swung too far in the opposite extreme in many cases. This new extrovert style church seems more interested in having an experience or emotional high than obtaining understanding. As we have already determined, this was not what the original church was like at all.  As Jesus said to pilate in John 18:37 “I have come to testify to the truth.” So it’s obvious why the newfound church was dedicated to what the apostles learned from Jesus. Without a good theological standard of truth to hold our experiences up to, how are we to assure that said experiences are good and righteous rather than unrighteous and sinful? Clearly there is a lot that these diverse groups of people could teach one another in a true body of Christ sort of way. However, that will not happen if we defy Biblical diversity in favor of trying to force others to think, feel, and express themselves as we do for the sake of hollow unity.  

Extroverts VS Introverts