Why the Early Church Would Terrify Us Today

We love the idea of the early Church… but not its reality
Acts 2 gets quoted like a mission statement: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” It sounds inspiring, idyllic - even Pinterest-worthy.

But what if we stopped romanticising the early Church and actually tried to live like them? I was just asked on radio this afternoon, “What if the Disciples turned up in our Church on Sunday? What would they think?”

I gave the answer that they would immediately connect with their brothers and sisters in Christ - there would be that connection. But then, I said, they would be disturbed at some of the messaging and what happened at church. At that point I don’t know if they’d make a scene or not. Some of them were pretty blunt.

What would we think of them? We would be in awe of them, but then, as they started railing against our materialism and our cold sense of community, I suspect many of us would quickly exit from Stage Left and get back home to our safety blanket. That’s why Christians say, “Ooo, the Acts Church was for then-it wouldn’t work today.” That’s the voice of lame Christianity that has given up and been dominated by the Worldly culture of their country. Of course, the Acts Church would work today! It just wouldn’t fit with the curated church programme.

The early Church wasn’t safe. It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t slick. They didn’t meet in auditoriums with LED screens and rosters. They met daily, in homes. They shared meals and resources. They sold property and gave the money to whoever needed it most. They healed the sick. They spoke in tongues. They cast out demons. They preached in marketplaces. They lived like people who had nothing to lose - because in most cases, they didn’t.

This is raw, untamed faith. Not spiritual consumerism. It was spiritual combustion. Try suggesting at your next church members’ meeting that your congregation sell houses and give to the poor, or that you meet for prayer every day, not just once a week. Try suggesting that your Sunday gathering be interrupted by a prophetic word or someone being delivered from spiritual bondage. Ask if the owner of the BMW in the carpark can sell it to support the missions work in Pakistan. You’ll see pretty quickly how far we’ve drifted from the book of Acts.

Why? Because the modern Church has become deeply shaped by comfort, control, and culture. We’ve built churches that are palatable, safe, and professionally managed. In contrast, the early Church was unfiltered, Spirit-led, and profoundly disruptive. We’ve developed Church slogans for the walls when there is only one mission given to us - the Great Commission. This is the only model Jesus gave us.

Not a brand, but a body.
Not a programme, but a people.
Not a performance, but a presence.

Not a slogan on the wall, but the Great Commission.

We marvel at the early Acts Church community’s courage, but we hesitate to imitate it. Because deep down, we know: their way of life would unravel ours. And that’s exactly the point.

Jesus never invited us into safe faith.
He invited us into surrendered faith.
And the Acts Church lived that out, daily - publicly, joyfully, sacrificially.

Maybe that’s why we admire them from a distance but rarely follow them up close. Because if we did, our systems would need to die, our comfort would be shattered, and our calendars would explode. But maybe… that’s exactly what we need.

We don’t need more Christian content (except maybe this kind of blog :-). We need Christian courage. We don’t need to manage decline politely. We need to embody the kind of Church that once turned the world upside down.

The early Church would terrify us.
And maybe that’s exactly why we need them back.