So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:46-47, NKJV

Perhaps of all the things that men have misunderstood about God in modern times, the church and its purpose is the greatest. So many modern day Christians sincerely believe that the church is something that can be customized to one's own individual preferences. I suppose that's why there are so many denominations - people like to shop around, see what "church" fits what they want best, and then they attach themselves to that group. But this is not how God deigned the church - that customized approach to the church is a design of man.

So how did God design the church? When we read the passage above we get a glimpse. We see that the early Christians were often together on days other than just the first day of the week. We see a simplicity of purpose and function. More important, we see that the church was not merely some religious organization that they shopped about for and then joined.

No! The church was that body that God added men and women to who were being saved! And how did they become saved? Just reading through this second chapter of Acts we see that they heard the message that was being preached by Peter and the other apostles, and that those who accepted that message (in other words, believed) repented of their sins, called upon the name of the Lord (confessed their belief - see Romans 10:8-13 for God's definition of what calling on the name of the Lord means) and were baptized.

And when they had done these things, God added them to the church! Now note what the church did: 

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Acts 2:41-42, NKJV

Do you see? Those whom God added to the church devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching (we have this teaching in the New Testament), to the fellowship (they liked each other and were often together, encouraging one another) the breaking of bread (the Lord's Supper we partake of on the first day of the week) and to prayer. The Lord's church that God had added them to did not split themselves up into factions of people seeking to fulfill their personal preferences. The Lord's church simply was the body of Christ that devoted itself to the Word, to being together, to worshipping together and to praying.

Something else should be mentioned: The Lord's church was not something people occasionally "did". It was their life. Mamas and daddies, are we teaching this type of devotion to the Lord's church to our children today, or are we teaching them that "church" is something we "do" when we have time? It may be a difficult question for us to answer, but one that we must come to grips with all the same. We also need to seriously consider what have we done to the Lord's church. Are we attempting to keep it as God intended, or are we making it to our own specifications?

One final thought: The decision that we make, the one that will either cause us to become devoted to the Lord's church or to "dabble in religion" will be the difference between the church being the presence in our communities that changes peoples life in the way that God designed them to, or being a mere social club of like-minded men and women. And, it will very likely be the difference between salvation and eternal separation from God, for the truth is that the church has always been the body of Christ that God adds the saved to upon their obedience to His commands.

It's something to think about, isn't it?