The notion of ‘expressions of church’ suggests something like church or may even be church. But what do we mean by ‘church’ in the first place? Steve Walton gives us New Testament parameters for what the early followers of Jesus called themselves and what they did together.
Acts is our only account of the formation and lives of the earliest Christian communities. Thus it’s a precious source for thinking about how those earliest believers understood their shared life as ‘church’. But what did they mean by that important word? As we shall see, it’s only one of half a dozen terms used for the Christian communities of Acts, and there isn’t one section of Acts which offers a clear definition. To learn about those early communities we need to ask two questions: first, what did they call themselves, for the names you use tell you about how you understanding a community; and secondly, what did they characteristically do as communities?
Calling ‘the church’ names
The commonest name in Acts is the brothers and sisters. It most probably stems from Old Testament usage, where Israelites called each other ‘brother/sister’, even if they were not direct blood relatives. It is particularly striking, then, that gentile believers were included as brothers and sisters, particularly after the Jerusalem meeting which agreed that gentile believers did not have to keep the whole Jewish law and (if men) to be circumcised (for example in 15:23 [references are to Acts unless stated otherwise]). The earliest Christians, both Jews and gentiles, saw themselves as part of a renewed and restored Israel, not gathered around Jesus as Messiah. This continuity with the Old Testament is crucial – as Christians, we are part of this renewed Israel.
Disciples
