What Would the Apostles Do? How and When to Use Acts as a Guide for the Contemporary Church

What Would the Apostles Do?

A few years ago, there was a viral trend for Christians to wear bracelets bearing the letters WWJD? It was supposed to be a reminder to the wearer in every situation to ask, “What would Jesus do?” and then presumably respond in the same way. One can certainly understand and applaud the desire for Christians to be more Christ-like in our interactions with others, but critics pointed out the obvious flaw in this approach. We cannot and should not always do what Jesus did. Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead, exceptional gifts which we have not been given. He had a unique calling that enabled him to send his disciples fishing for the money to pay their temple tax (Matt. 17:24–27), an approach that, sadly, we cannot emulate when April 15th rolls around. More precisely, we don’t have to emulate it, since we live in a different period of redemptive history. Old Testament believers were obligated to pay this annual fee to support the tabernacle and temple (see Ex. 30:11–16), and since Christ came to live a perfect life under the law, he, too, paid it. But since Christ is himself the new temple (see John 2:19), after his death and resurrection, that Old Testament obligation no longer binds believers.

Similar challenges face us in interpreting the book of Acts. From the earliest days, Christians have sought to emulate the church in Jerusalem in Acts 2:42–47. There is much in that passage that we should imitate: the new believers’ commitment to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to breaking bread together and praying together daily, both publicly and from house to house, is a beautiful demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s work in their hearts. Yet while some Christian groups have also tried to copy the Jerusalem church’s model of mutual sharing of their possessions in support of those who have need (Acts 2:45), most churches don’t regard this as part of the pattern we are to follow. They notice that we don’t see the same pattern of communal living being followed universally by the early church: later in the book of Acts, the churches that Paul plants operate differently, with wealthy Lydia retaining possession of her large house in Philippi (Acts 16:14–15). Even though she generously hosts Paul and his team under her roof, it remains her roof. When Paul is raising money to take care of the needs of poor Christians in Jerusalem, he doesn’t expect the Christians in Corinth to donate everything they possess. Rather, he asks for them to give generously but proportionately from what they have (1 Cor. 16:2).

Turning the World Upside Down

Iain M. Duguid

In this practical, winsome guide, Iain Duguid explores the continuing work of Jesus after the ascension in Acts 1–8, encouraging believers today toward gospel-driven, Spirit-filled mission.

The apostles also play a distinctive foundational role in the life of the young church (cf. Eph. 2:20). The whole church is involved in the spread of the gospel, proclaiming the good news wherever they go as they are scattered by persecution (Acts 8:1–4). But the apostles have a unique ministry as eye-witnesses to the risen Christ, which is attested by signs and wonders. Peter and John, for example, healed a lame man outside the temple, a clear fulfillment of Isaiah 35:6 (see Acts 3). This testifies to the power of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (Acts 3:13), a frequent theme in the healings in Acts (see Acts 3:6; Acts 4:10, 30). This was merely one among many signs and wonders done “among the people by the hands of the apostles” (Acts 5:12). These signs and wonders authenticated the apostles as the authorized witnesses of Jesus: they continued the work of the risen and ascended Jesus through his Holy Spirit in the world. Just as Jesus’s ministry had been attested by miracles, wonders, and signs (Acts 2:22), so too the ministry of the apostles was attested by God in the same way (Acts 1:1-2; 14:3; 15:12; Rom. 15:9). In contrast, when Paul is instructing Timothy and Titus about second generation ministry in the Pastoral Epistles, there is nothing about them performing signs and wonders, only faithfully preaching the word in season and out of season (2 Tim. 4:2). Their ministries would be different from those of the apostles.

Other stories in the book of Acts are also not designed for our emulation. Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit when they claimed to have given everything they owned to the church, while they had in fact held some back (Acts 5:1–11). People often wonder why Ananias and Sapphira were killed, but perhaps the real question is why any of us are left alive. We have all pretended to other Christians that we are fully committed to the Lord when there are large parts of our lives we are not willing to submit to the authority of his word. We have all lied to the Holy Spirit by allowing others to think us more spiritual than we really are. So why doesn’t every church need a burial committee to complement the work of our missions committee? The answer is that Ananias and Sapphira were a unique exemplar of what we all deserve: the judgment of God on our sins. But in most cases, God mercifully allows us time to repent; his grace covers a multitude of our sins, which should not make us casual about our transgressions but rather inspire in us a proper fear of the Lord (Acts 5:11).

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So, how do we know which parts of the book of Acts are intended for us to emulate and which are not? To begin with, we should remember that the book of Acts is a narrative, a genre which teaches indirectly, not directly, as the epistles do. Biblical narratives give us examples of good and bad behavior, without always marking out which is which explicitly. The expectation is that you will read the stories in the light of the rest of Scripture to discern the difference. Sometimes it is obvious, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. At other times, it is not immediately so clear. When Barnabas and Paul disagreed so violently over John Mark that it broke up their ministry team (Acts 16:36–40), which of them was right? Was Paul right in thinking that an unreliable ministry associate would threaten the integrity of the team—after all, John Mark had let them down on their first journey (Acts 16:38)? Or was Barnabas right in thinking that Mark should be given a second chance (Mark was his cousin, after all; Col. 4:10)? The book of Acts leaves the answer ambiguous. In the light of the rest of the New Testament, it appears that Barnabas was right: Mark subsequently worked with Peter and was the author of one of the Gospels, and even Paul came to appreciate and trust Mark toward the end of his life (2 Tim. 4:11). That should certainly encourage us to give people second chances, following Barnabas’s example, but not every ministry situation will call for the same answer. Perhaps the more certain lesson that we can draw from this incident is the fact that God is even sovereign over our sharp disagreements in the church, and he can bring good (in this case, two effective ministry teams instead of one) even out of our sinful quarrels.

3 Applications

These examples demonstrate how complex it is to draw proper applications from the book of Acts. Here are some guidelines to help you determine what the legitimate applications may be:

1) If the application lines up with a Scriptural command elsewhere, it is likely to be valid. On the other hand, if it contravenes a direct Scriptural command, it is unlikely to be appropriate.

The Lord is still active in his church by his Spirit, and he will be with us until the end of the age.

2) Have you taken account of the unique calling of the person(s) involved? Apostles and prophets do things in Scripture that are not necessarily to be expected or even legitimate for ordinary believers.

3) Are these events part of a unique series of events in redemptive history that may not be normative for all of church history? For example, the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 is a reversal of the divisions of the Tower of Babel (see Gen. 11:1–9). The nations were divided then, leading to a confusion of languages. But in Christ, those old divisions have been removed as the nations once again become one people, a new Israel in Christ (Eph. 2:11–22; Gal. 3:28), while retaining their diverse languages. This unique event of the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost ripples outwards as the gospel goes out from Jerusalem to the Gentiles (Acts 1:8). First, the Holy Spirit comes to the Gentiles who are near to Israel in Acts 10, and then to faraway Gentiles in Acts 19, attested in each case with the distinctive signs of prophecy and tongues (Acts 10:46; 19:6). However, in other cases, the gospel comes to a new town or community without similar fanfare. The foundational sign that the Gentiles have been given the Spirit does not need to be endlessly repeated, and similar signs should not be expected in subsequent generations.

The application of these principles will take wisdom. Narratives aren’t always easy to apply, especially given the cultural and historical distance that lies between the first century church and us. However, it is worth putting in the hard work to study this period of the church’s history. We can learn much from the early church—what it got right and what it got wrong—and especially from observing God at work in the lives of his people, sometimes through dramatic miracles and at other times through hidden acts of ordinary providence. The Lord is still active in his church by his Spirit, and he will be with us until the end of the age.

Iain M. Duguid is the author of Turning the World Upside Down: Lessons for the Church from Acts 1–8.

Iain M. Duguid (PhD, University of Cambridge) is professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary. He has planted churches in England, California, and Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous commentaries and articles.

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One of the greatest challenges in interpreting the book of Acts, one with which every reader must wrestle, is in determining whether the narrative portions of the book are descriptive or prescriptive.