Thinking Like a Christian

A series of Scripture meditations on what the Bible teaches about the Christian life.

by Pastor Pete Beck III

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The Purpose of Power

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth. Acts 1:8 (NET1)  

If the book of Acts had been written by modern day consumer Christians (CCs), it would have said, "You will receive power so that you can have great meetings." Today's CCs sometimes evaluate churches based on what takes place on Sunday mornings. They church shop like the consumers the culture has molded them to be without realizing what they have become. Their criteria for selection is based on what a church can do for them instead of what God has called them to give. Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive, but for a CC, it is more blessed to receive than to give. Each Sunday they come to drink from the church well in order to satisfy their spiritual itch for another week. If the "performance" is not up to their standards, they become critical of the church and move on. I have heard people say that they are looking for a church with "power", and they evaluate whether or not a church has "the power" by how exciting and stirring the Sunday meeting is. However, according to the passage above, we receive power in order to go outside the church building and share the gospel with others. What I have found is that when we are faithful to witness and minister outside the church, we are satisfied on an entirely different level. We no longer have this insatiable craving to have an exciting meeting because we are outward focused. Outwardly focused people come together to worship, share testimonies, hear edifying teaching and encourage one another so that we can go outside and minister all over again. It's all a matter of focus. Are we getting our spiritual "thrills" from the meetings we attend or from sharing the gospel? Are we more concerned about what we get out of a meeting or what we give? Are we focused on meeting our own needs or on meeting the needs of other? Are we self-centered or gospel-centered?

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