Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
June 2025
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them.
For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. (Acts 4:32-37 NIV)
What is a good church? How would you even know what a good church is? What are some characteristics of a good church, not a perfect church, but a good church? A perfect church does not exist.
It doesn’t exist anymore than a perfect pastor, a perfect husband or perfect kids. A perfect church does not exist today and did not exist in the days of the apostles.
The early church was not perfect. Churches founded by apostles were not perfect. Some of them had all kinds of problems, like the Church of Corinth. They had people in the church visiting prostitutes and getting drunk in church.
In fact, the apostles themselves were not perfect. Just follow Peter around and you will see that. Even really good churches have some problems. The early church was not perfect, but it was good.
What does a good church look like? Is it a particular denomination? Is it big or small? Is it old or is it new? Does it play slow hymns or loud music, like a rock concert? Does it have to be traditional or can it be hip and relevant?
There are all kinds of opinions as to what constitutes a good church. The best way to find out what a good church is to go back to the beginning, to go back to origins. The best way to find out is to go back to the very first church. The first church was a model church.
We have been studying the Book of Acts and have seen some characteristics of the early church. Let’s summarize some of the things we have seen in Acts.
Summary of the Early Church
1) The early church was a teaching church
They did not just have preaching; they had teaching. They had doctrine. They had a common set of beliefs. They continued in the apostle’s doctrine. It was apostolic in doctrine. There are many churches where very little teaching ever takes place.
2) The early church was a preaching church
Peter the first gospel sermon in Acts 2 to a large crowd and people responded. They got saved and baptized. Peter’s preaching was bold. It was evangelistic. Peter preached the first Christian sermon. Many churches have a lot of teaching but no preaching.
3) The early church was a powerful church
Incredible miracles were taking place. People were being healed miraculously. These miracles were undeniable. They were irrefutable. Many churches lack power today. They may have teaching and preaching but don’t have any power. No miracles take place.
3) The early church was a Spirit-filled church
That is something that we read over and over again in Acts. Many churches today are filled with entertainment. They are filled with tradition. They are filled with man-made rules, but they are not filled with the Spirit. If the Spirit was removed from the church, nothing would change.
4) The early church was a praying church
They prayed in the Upper Room before Pentecost. Peter and John were headed to a prayer meeting after Pentecost. They went to a prayer meeting after they were released from jail. Prayer was important to the early church. Many churches today do not even have a prayer meeting.
5) The early church was a persecuted church.
The leaders of the church were thrown into jail simply for preaching the gospel and talking about the resurrection. They were persecuted for doing good, for healing a man who could not walk. The same thing happened to Jesus. In fact, Jesus said, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” (John 15:20 NIV)
Today, we want to look at three more signs of a good church. A good church is a unified church. A good church is a generous church. A good church is an encouraging church. Some of these characteristics are very different from churches in our own day.
Many modern churches do not have some of these traits. When you go into some churches, you do not feel encouraged, you feel beaten down. You feel condemned.
Some of these traits are radical, selling possessions to help someone. When was the last time you did that? We are also going to look at the life of a man that most of us know very little about. We are going to look at a man named Barnabas.
A Unified Church
That would be great to have today. Many churches today are not characterized by unity but by division. Christians fight. They argue. They get mad, leave and go to another congregation where the process starts all over again. Some Christians move from church to church and go to a new congregation every five years.
We argue about all kinds of things. Sometimes it is over major issues. Most of the time it is over minor issues (style of music, mode of baptism, Christian schools). Some Christians and some churches have a reputation for fighting and divisiveness.
Now, we should be able to defend the faith against critics but, when you argue about disputed matters, no one is convinced in the end. It is a big waste of time. As a younger Christian, I spent a lot of time arguing with other believers over non-essential issues.
The Apostle Paul said, “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters” (Romans 14:1 NIV). We should not spend our time arguing with people over disputed matters and yet that is what we often do.
We argue about things that the Bible does not even directly address or it does address but only in one verse and the verse is disputed. We argue about minor issues that are not essential doctrines of the faith. Those should not be source of division among Christians.
Jesus prayed for unity among His followers. He prayed for oneness. He prayed for unity among all Christians, not just Baptists. In fact, it was one of His last prayers. He prayed it the night before He died.
He said, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21 NIV).
The first church was united. All the believers were one in heart and mind (Acts 4:32 NIV). This was not a small church either. It was a large church. It was a megachurch.
There were five thousand men in this church (Acts 4:4). With women and children, there might have been fifteen thousand in the church. How do you get that many people to agree on everything?
You can’t. That would take a church full of robots. It is not possible for fifteen thousand people to agree on everything. It is not possible for two people to agree on everything. Just ask any married couple.
You can have all kinds of differences of minor issues and still be united on the majors. These early Christians were united when it came to their faith as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Do you do things to promote unity or division? Paul said, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3 NIV). He did not just say “keep the unity of the Spirit.” He said, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.” That is our responsibility.
A Generous Church
This church was not only united; it was generous. It was compassionate. It gave to people in need. Every church should be a generous church.
This church took giving to a whole new level. They did not just believe in giving; they believed in radical giving, sacrificial giving. They sold real estate and property and gave the money to the church.
This church not only dealt with spiritual issues; they dealt with social issues, like poverty in the church. There were some people in this church that were absolutely destitute, and this church helped them.
They did not just say, “be warmed and filled.” They did things to help them. They addressed poverty in the church. Do you have things that other believers need that you could bless them with?
Is Communism Biblical?No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had… For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. (Acts 4:32, 34-35 NIV) This is one of the most abused and misused passages of Scripture. Many have used this passage to teach the concept of Christian communism. There is economic redistribution. Everyone has things in common. The word “communism” comes from a root that means common or shared. The first church shared some things. They had some things in common. Does the Bible teach communism? No. On the surface, it looks like communism. It looks like Marxism until you look a little closer. One, private property still existed. The right of private property was not abolished. Mary kept her house (Acts 12:12). The early believers met “house to house” (Acts 2:46), so they must have still had houses. Some property was sold but they did not sell everything they had. They did this “from time to time.” Two, the sale of property was completely voluntary. The early believers were not forced to do this. They wanted to do this. They did not do it by law or by force. There was no state control of private property. Their philosophy was not “what is yours is mine” but “what is mine us yours.” No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. (Acts 4:32 NIV) Three, the distribution was based on genuine need. It was not distributed equally but was based on human need (Acts 4:35). Four, this is dealing with the church. It says that there was no needy person among them, not among the whole city of Jerusalem. As Charles Ryrie said, “These are not communist principles.”[1] |
An Encouraging Church
The first church was not just a united church and a generous church, giving to those in need. It was an encouraging church. We see that in the life of Barnabas. He is mentioned for the first time in Acts 4. Most of us know very little about this man. Who was he?
Barnabas was a Jew. He was a Levite. He was a Jew who became a Christian. He was a godly man. “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith” (Acts 11:24 NIV). He also served in several leadership roles.
1) Barnabas was a PROPHET
Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul (Acts 13:1 NIV). In fact, he was first on the list of names. He must have been prominent.
2) Barnabas was an APOSTLE
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this… (Acts 14:14 NIV). He was not one of the Twelve, but he was called an apostle. He was a lowecase apostle.
3) Barnabas was a MISSIONARY
Barnabas went on a missionary trip with Paul in Acts 13 and a mission trip without Paul in Acts 15. Can you imagine being able to go on Paul’s first missionary journey? He got to travel and minister with Paul.
Apparently, he led the mission trip. The Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13:2 NIV). He was mentioned first. He was the older Christian.
Role Model for Today
How is Barnabas a role model for us today? Do you have any of his qualities? Let’s look at some of his traits. Do you have any of them?
1) Selfless with Money
He was not greedy. He did not receive financial financially for ministry. Now, there was nothing wrong with doing that. He had a right to receive a paycheck for ministry but refused it, as did the Apostle Paul (I Corinthians 9:6). He did not want to be a burden to anyone. He ministered for free.
He gave a lot of his money away to help those in need. He sold a field and gave it to the apostles. He was selfless with his possessions. He did not mind giving them away.
He helped organized a fundraiser among Gentile Christians to help poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem (Acts 11:30). He gave to the poor and tried to get other believers to help the poor. He was selfless and compassionate to the needs of others.
Does this describe you? What is your attitude toward money and toward possessions? Would you be willing to give any of them up, if you needed to or it could bless someone else?
2) Completely Humble
The world sees pride as a good thing, not a bad thing. We celebrate it in our day. We have Pride Month. God hates pride. It was the first sin ever committed. Barnabas was not proud. He was humble.
He did not have a big ego. In Acts 14, some pagans thought he was a god and tried to worship him but he did not accept the worship. He did not let that go to his head. It is kind of funny. They called him Zeus (the god of thunder and lightening). Barnabas was not a son of thunder but a son of encouragement.
He was humble. He was not in the spotlight. He is not as famous as Peter or Paul. He did not write any books of Scripture. He didn’t write any deep theology.
He was not jealous of those around him who were more gifted than he was and outshined him. Many pastors and leaders are jealous and feel threatened by someone under them who have gifts and abilities they do not have, but not Barnabas. There was no rivalry between Paul and Barnabas.
Barnabas led the mission trip with Paul who was an actual apostle chosen by Jesus. He could perform incredible miracles. He wrote Scripture. Barnabas was glad to serve with him
He did not mind if his own disciples out shadowed him. He did not mind taking a subservient role. He did not mind ministering the shadow or taking second place.
3) Loved to Encourage
Barnabas was an encourager. His name was Joseph, but he was such an encourager and motivator that the apostles changed his name to Barnabas the Encourager. He was called “the son of encouragement.” Barnabas was an encourager.
News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and ENCOURAGED them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. (Acts 11:22-23 NIV)
Church is a place where we should be encouraged and strengthened in our faith. That is why we should not miss it.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER—and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV)
The Encouragement of Barnabas
How did Barnabas encourage people? He was always reaching out to people. We have several examples of this.
1) He encouraged people who were new in their faith
He was the only one to reach out to Paul after his conversion. No one else would do it. It was too dangerous. It was too risky. Saul killed Christians but Barnabas reached out to him.
When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord (Acts 9:26-28 NIV)
2) He encouraged people who needed a second chance
He worked with people who no one else could trust, like Saul the persecutor or, as we would say, terrorist today. He also worked with people who everyone else gave up on, like his cousin John Mark.
Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (Acts 15:36-41 NIV)
3) He encouraged people who needed hope
He provided help to believers during a severe famine.
During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul. (Acts 11:27-30 NIV)
If the apostles gave you a new name, what would it be? Joseph was called the “Son of Encouragement.” What would people call you? What are you known for? What do you have a reputation for? What would your nickname be?
Are you a son or daughter of encouragement? Do you encourage people? It doesn’t take much to encourage – just a few words. Encouragement can come in other forms as well.
Therefore ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER and build each other up (I Thessalonians 5:11 NIV)
But ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER DAILY, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13 NIV)
[1] Charles Ryrie, Acts, 36.
