Ham & eggs

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.... And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42, 47

I’ve heard it quipped that the difference between “involved” and “committed” is seen in the ham & eggs breakfast: the chicken is involved ... but the pig is committed!

The early church flew past “involved” as though it were standing still. These people were committed; they were devoted. And what they modeled for us in their devotion was alignment with each other and with their God.

For by adhering to the apostles’ teaching, the earliest believers subjected their thoughts to God's truth. (Paul’s resolve in 2 Corinthians 10:5 comes to mind: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”) Committing themselves to each other in fellowship, they lived and acted together as one, loving their neighbor as themselves. Steadfast in partaking of the bread and the wine, they participated in the body and blood of Christ who had become life for them and in them – “Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).” And persevering in prayer, they spoke openly and freely with the God who loved and redeemed them.

In short, these men and women were devoted to all the right things and aligned in all the right ways. And what came of it? Much! For “everyone was filled with awe” ... there were “many wonders and miraculous signs” ... the believers “[enjoyed] the favor of all the people” ... and “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

And all of this was answered prayer. For on the night in which he was betrayed, and knowing the brutality that lay immediately before him, Jesus yet took time to ask his Father this for all who would believe in him: “that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:22-23).”

We are called to align what we do with who we are. We who place our trust in Christ Jesus have been made one with him and with each other through him. And so we subject our lives to his life, our will to his will. And he will do the rest.

Alignment is a daily thing. And as for the level of commitment, the early church set the standard for us: “devoted” ... or “whole hog,” we might say. (Let’s leave “involved” for the chickens.)