Presently, hundreds of millions of Christians still practice the weekly gathering implored in Acts 2:42, perhaps in separate structures but united in the breaking of bread and of prayer. God commands Christians to places and people where His presence can be best known and worshipped; their effect is made manifest in the words of the Church leaders and the substance of the eucharistic elements.

The call to community is echoed a few verses later, when it is revealed that the members of the infant Church would also congregate to “(break) bread in their homes and (eat) together with glad and sincere hearts.” Thus, the context of the verse in question implies a joyous gathering, a reception of the Lord’s gift of salvation in a communal setting that creates a nurturing community that spans the globe in spite of physical barriers and doctrinal conflicts.

However important the spiritual unity of the Church, the actual physical wholeness of the bride of Christ is almost equally important. After all, the internal divisions of the Church today have in many ways negatively affected the ability of Christians to act collectively and project the love of God outward into the secular community. Therefore, to counteract the continuous cycle of splintering churches, the passage commands an obvious, physical unity. Acts 2:42 states that the believers dedicated themselves to fellowship and to the teachings of the apostles.

All Christians today share the desire for fellowship, but it is hampered by the lines that denominations draw between themselves and others. Today, Christians number in the billions and can have a transcendent impact, but the collective responsibility we have for the world is marred by factions and a morally broken unwillingness to co-operate and forgive.

All churches, while maintaining a distinct identity, should remind the world outside of the Church’s embrace that they are willing to overlook differences of opinion in order to further God’s work in the world today and prepare for His coming.

In contemporary times, religion is becoming increasingly marginalized in the developed world and Christianity increasingly persecuted in the developing world.

Acts 2:42 does not rob individuals and churches of their ability to express their love of Christ in unique ways.

It does not tell denominations to disregard their histories, creeds and cultures, but it admonishes all Christians to strive toward unity and be a truly whole Body of Christ in the world today — in both a spiritual and tangible sense.

(Hielkema, 18, is a Grade 12 student at St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School in Clinton, Ont.)