Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.
This song is my earliest church memory. It’s also my most important. And at its heart it speaks to just about everything that is right with the persecuted church around the world and everything that is wrong with the church in North America.
The story is from the book of Acts, chapter 3. It witnesses to the power of Jesus’ resurrection in the early church. Peter and John heal a man who cannot walk. But I think there is more here at stake than two apostles performing a healing miracle in the name of Jesus. I think this story has power for the church today, if we dare to listen.
The opposite of this story is true of the church in North America. No longer can we say truthfully: Silver and gold have I none. Living in the richest part of the world with mega churches, mega budgets and mega crowds, we are spiritually impoverished. Do you think there is a connection between a church with lots of silver and gold and no power to make people rise up and walk? And, conversely, do you think a church with fewer material resources might find its resurrection power in Jesus and no other?
If you’d like to read more, check out Peyton Jones’ book, Church Zero: Raising 1st Century Churches out of the Ashes of the 21st Century Church