How did the early church grow so well?

Many factors contributed to the initial spread of pure Christianity. We shall begin by noting three examples.

• There was indeed a widespread Messianic expectation among the descendants of Abraham. Others also became aware of the notion of the coming of a special One. The woman of Samaria said to Jesus: “I know that Messiah cometh” (John 4:25). This anticipation very naturally allowed people to be shown how Jesus exactly aligned with every detail foretold. Apollos was powerfully “showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 18:28).

• Widespread use of the Greek language contributed to the ease of conveying New Testament truths. Much of the Roman world, which previously had been under the domain of Alexander the Great, was largely Greek speaking. So pervasive was the Hellenistic influence that many Jews, who had been dispersed abroad, had adopted the language (cf. Acts 6:1). Therefore, in many places, language was not a barrier.

• Since the gospel message went forth soon after the ascension of the Lord, the impact of his teaching and miracles was still fairly fresh.  Over the period of about three and one half years, so many had been healed, helped, and heard the Lord’s parables and sermons. Remember, that even John’s gospel record contains only a sampling from the many miracles that were performed (John 20:30, 31; 21:25). Surely a family could not forget about the Lord’s power, when their son no longer was tormented by a demon? How many cleansed lepers would be reminded of the Lord or of his disciples, when they looked upon their smooth skin? Every day, a man who had previously been blind, could gaze upon the Creator’s handiwork and remember the One who gave him the gift of sight! Don’t you suppose many of these folks would be inclined toward gospel obedience?

These three factors were present in the first century, giving favorable help to evangelism, but they no long remain. However, we shall turn our attention to one specific factor that had a phenomenal impact on church growth. And here is the exciting part. This contributing factor need not be frozen in the past. It was a practice of the early saints, which is still available for evangelism today!

We will use “the church of the Thessalonians” to explain this practice (1 Thessalonians 1:1). But first some background will help us to understand an obvious motive that propelled their behavior. When writing to this congregation, Paul spoke of the hope concerning those Christians who had “fallen asleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). It seems that some were under the misimpression that the Lord’s return was imminent, and therefore, when some of their fellows had died, they thought those departed saints would miss out on the glorious gathering with the Lord. In reality, they will not be abandoned, but “the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Therefore, when the Lord returns, the living righteous, along with those who died faithful, will all be joined together. What a time that will be!

When a beloved saint passes from this life, we surely do sorrow. We miss them. But, we “sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13)! Informed children of God realize, that when a non-Christian dies, there is no hope. The tragedy of that is beyond our ability to fully comprehend!

What does all this have to do with successful evangelism? Simply put, a realization of the hopelessness of those outside of Christ propels Christians to tell the message of hope!  This is exactly what the Thessalonians did. Paul was so thankful for their fervor. “For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything” (1 Thessalonians 1:8). Let’s analyze this verse.

• The phrase “sounded forth” is from one word in the original, and is found nowhere else in the New Testament. This is a compound verb, explained by the grammarian Robertson, as: “to sound out of a trumpet or of thunder, to reverberate like our echo.” Zeal for telling others prevailed among these saints.

• Notice also, what was heralded. No mention is made of cute stories, clever illustrations, dramatic reenactments, etc. Rather, “the word of the Lord” was their cry. Faith can be produced in an honest heart when exposed to “the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). And their proclamation of the Lord’s word did not exclude the demanding portions. There was no effort to soften the demands of gospel obedience. For example, repentance was not excluded. Their practice agreed with their preaching. They had “turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). Proper evangelism is focused upon speaking the word of the Lord, and that must include the requirement of repentance (cf. Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; 26:20).

• Furthermore, a point not to be missed is, the fact that they had been sharing the message so thoroughly, that Paul declared: “…we need not to speak anything” (1 Thessalonians 1:8). Members of that congregation were so diligent to share the word of the Lord that an apostle felt his teaching efforts in that area were not needed. Wow! Was this a rarity? Actually no. Even before Paul’s conversion, when the apostles had remained in Jerusalem, it was the scattered Christians who “went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).

Let’s consider two closing observations:

First, if we are not fully convinced of the lost-ness of others, our evangelistic efforts will be meager at best. Jesus declared these sobering words: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned” (Mark 16:16). May we all be spurred on to speak the word of the Lord, because we know without it there is no hope. The gospel is the message of hope!

Second, the Lord’s church rightly must look to doing Bible things in Bible ways. We have just examined the actions of the first century Christians. We will never see the kind of growth spoken of in the New Testament, until there is a pervasive realization that members must be sharing the word with the lost. We no longer have apostles. And not all can be evangelists. God gave “some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11).  Furthermore, it is not the Lord’s plan for “the preacher” and “the missionaries” to be the main ones to teach the lost. As long as we continue, by default, to look to them, we will continue to be deficient. We need not keep “experimenting” with new and novel approaches to evangelism. Nor should we mimic strategies used by denominations. Let’s purposefully allow this restoration to begun with us!

Sounding forth the word of the Lord – who will do it?

George Jensen 2021