The Four Pillars of the Church

In a day when people are trying to "rediscover" church, or as I say reinvent church, we really need to turn back to the teachings of the book of Acts.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

You see it all around, the emerging church, the emergent church, the growth movement, the purpose driven movement. What is a Christian to do, let alone someone exploring Christianity. I think we need to revisit the book of Acts. This passage of Acts gives us insight to what the church should look like, even today. I like to refer to them as the four pillars of the church, the Word, prayer, communion, and fellowship. With these four pillars in place, I feel a church cannot deviate from the paths God has outlined for us. We must mature at Christians, and that can be accomplished when we make sure these four pillars are secure.

In addition, to the church, this is true for our own lives. We must stay in the Word daily as the early church did. Even if it is to meditate on a few verses a day. We must pray daily if not hourly seeking God and his will for our lives. We must fellowship by interacting with other Christians so that we can develop relationships that hold us accountable. Finally, we must participate in communion so we never forget the sacrifice Jesus made for us on that rugged cross.

Please take time to meditate on these four pillars and how they are in your own life and the life of your church.