The Church's First Mistake Becomes A Chronic Legacy

One of my Dad's sayings was 'Anyone can make a mistake once but, only a fool makes the same mistake twice.' With that in mind, one must therefore conclude that the universal Church is a 'church of fools' because the Church continues to repeat mistakes of the past, over and over again. It has also been said that when a wrongful act is repeated long enough it can become an accepted practice, when a sin is repeated long enough it can become sacred and theologically approved, sometimes even becoming a fundamental doctrine. Has this happened within the Church?

While there are many views as to when the New Testament Church began, this teaching is based on the early days of the Church following the ascension of Jesus Christ as recorded in Acts 1. You may want to pause here and read Acts 1 before proceeding.

If you just read it, or possibly remembered the series of events recorded in Acts 1, did you see the mistake the Church made? Let us review the series of events:

• Prior to His ascension as recorded in Acts 1, Jesus Christ had spent countless hours teaching the disciples and many others about the tasks of the Church after His departure. To get a full perspective of the tasks, one must do a thorough study of the entire New Testament under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Why is the Holy Spirit important? Because without the Holy Spirit's guidance, studying the New Testament would not be any different than reading a novel from your local library.
• Wait! The Church did not have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit until Acts 2 which means they did not have the Holy Spirit during Acts 1. So, how did they fare without Jesus and without the Holy Spirit?
• Well, they had a prayer meeting. Acts 1 tells us that there were approximately one hundred and twenty gathered together. Wow, a good sized group for a prayer meeting. A prayer meeting is very good so where did they make a mistake?
• Apparently, the prayer meeting ended, and then, they held a business meeting. So, the business meeting was the mistake? No, having a business meeting is not in and of itself a mistake but, transacting business which GOD has not authorized the Church (any church, your church, etc.) to transact is a huge mistake!
• Nowhere in all of Scripture is the Church authorized to elect a replacement for Judas! Nowhere is all of the teachings of Jesus Christ is the Church authorized to elect a replacement for Judas! And yet, Acts 1 gives evidence of the Church doing that which it was never authorized to do. How did this happen?
• Peter stood up and called the Church into a business meeting.
• New business was presented that there was a vacancy among the twelve disciples with the death of Judas.
• New business was justified based on Scripture presented.
• Two candidates were nominated to fill the vacancy.
• The Church prayed that GOD would guide and bless the election they were having.
• The Church voted and elected a replacement for Judas.
• Although it is not recorded as such, I wonder if the Church did not rejoice that they had just done the LORD's work.
• Before the Church did its evil deed, none of the eleven disciples had the common sense to realize that they were never 'elected.' Each of them had been personally chosen/enlisted/called/selected/appointed by Jesus Christ Himself, even Judas. So, where did they get off electing anybody?
• Therefore, Matthias was officially elected by the Church and became the replacement for Judas. No, absolutely not! No further information about Matthias is to be found in the canonical New Testament. One must go outside the canonical New Testament to find any historical account of a Matthias and that individual cannot be positively connected to the Matthias of Acts 1.

So, who did replace Judas? To answer that question, one must go to Acts 9. Just as Jesus Christ Himself had personally chosen/enlisted/called/selected/appointed the original twelve disciples, Jesus Christ Himself personally chose/enlisted/called/selected/appointed His chosen replacement for Judas, Saul of Tarsus whom we know as Paul. Paul would take the gospel to the Gentile world, Paul would stand before world leaders and proclaim the message of Christ, Paul would be the human author whom the Holy Spirit would use to write more than half of the canonical New Testament.

For over two thousand years, the Church continues to copy the mistake of Acts 1.

• Local congregations of the Church hold business meetings.
• They propose business for which they were never authorized to do.
• They pray so they can rejoice if the business activities go well and put the blame on GOD if the business activities fail...saying 'it was the will of the LORD' or 'it was the will of GOD.'
• Most local congregations do not truly know what business GOD has authorized them to do.
• They have been and continue to conduct business mistakes because the Church has done it so long that the mistake is now a sacred and theologically fundamental activity of the Church.
• Leaders, like Peter in Acts 1, continue to lead local congregations, denominations, and other groups into conducting business that has never been, is not now, nor will it ever be authorized by GOD!

When will the Church repent of its chronic mistake and return to walking/teaching/conducting business in the power of the Holy Spirit, doing only that which it has been authorized to do, and experiencing the awesome power and blessings of GOD along the way? To GOD be the glory! Amen.

May GOD bless you, and keep you, until we meet again!

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