The book of Acts, the fifth book of the New Testament, tells the story of the church’s birth and development in the first three decades after Jesus’ death, resurrections, and ascension.
If you were to survey every chapter in that story, you would find that the church did not just come into existence unquestioned. Many people wanted to understand this new identity, this new group. Some wanted to challenge it. Still others wanted to help correct it.
Too often, people in the church feel like they have to have all the answers. But that wasn’t true in the early church, and it isn’t true today. Pastors and teachers in the church may have some answers to some really important questions, but the churches that are most like the early church are a great place for people’s questions.
Even many characters in the Bible – from the great king David to Jesus’ apostle, Thomas – had some hard questions for God and his community because they knew that this was supposed to be a safe place for their doubts and curiosities. A church community can provide a great opportunity to ask sincere, searching questions. It can be a safe place to voice your doubts, a place for all sorts of questions, just like the early church.