Original:
And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:44–47)
Today:
And all who believed joined the same Facebook group and freely shared their status updates with one another. And they were selling their Farmville property and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, listening to online sermons and posting inspirational quotes on Twitter, they drank their Starbuck’s with glad (LOL!) and generous hearts, praising God and getting lots of “likes”. And they got more and more followers every day.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
that made me smile!
LOL!
I'm glad!
Stephen,
This was funny at first.
Then, not so much.
Thanks for the reminder of what the Church is meant to be. I'm grateful for the degree that I experience Acts 2. Convicted about how shallow I can be.
Dave
Yeah, it was intended to be humorous, but there is also a sobering element as I think about the shallowness of my life at times.
definitely thought provoking.
thanks, stephen, for this. i enjoyed it. actually, modern-day retellings of scripture are one of my favorite things to read… and to write. though honestly i don’t get to read many bloggers doing so these days. do you know of other authors doing modern versions of scripture?
and i hope it’s alright; i’ve cut and pasted my own retelling of this same portion of acts 2 — though mine begins in verse 42 and is perhaps a little more critical, but no less true, i’m sure:
They devoted themselves once a week to the attendance of services and maybe even Sunday school, and less often to big events like Friday night Christian coffee houses and ”Trunk-or-Treat.” Everyone was filled with a sense of duty and volunteerism — well most, some were filled with a desire to be passive members of an audience, though they called it “being fed.” And many great feats of organization were accomplished by the pastors and leaders. All the believers were together once a week and had a few things in common: the neighborhoods in which they lived, the cars they drove, and the schools their kids went to. Selling their possessions and goods in garage sales, they made enough extra cash to go skiing in Crested Butte over Christmas break. Every day they went about their own business and dealings, largely independent of other believers. They did manage to occasionally type “hi” to one another on facebook, and to retweet any spiritual-sounding quotes they read from the ministers they follow. They did this with glad and sincere hearts, praising technology and enjoying their vast communication networks. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved?
http://jamesbrett.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/fellow…
Great post.
What about Paul?
2 Timothy 2:2 (ESV)
and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
2 Timothy 2:2 (today)
and what you have read from me in RSS feeds and twitter updates, retweet to faithful followers who will be able to retweet to others also.
Okay, now you have me laughing and crying! You're sneaky!
{ 1 trackback }