If we have established, or at least considered, that the primary event in the meeting of the saints is the breaking of bread, then a few questions remain regarding how it all plays out logistically. Admittedly, one is hard pressed to develop a rubric or blueprint that stands alone as a sufficient foundation for all meetings in all places under all circumstances. But, it is obvious, from the pages of scripture, and early church history, that there was a common bond and thread running through the recorded meetings which took place in the churches of the saints. This common thread was the breaking of bread.
Overlooking the seemingly obvious feasting aspect of the meeting, we turn turn our gaze to the current approach to the Christian meeting in contemporary evangelicalism. It is, the "Sunday Service." Excepting to those who would hold the Sunday Service on Saturday, or substitute the meeting for some other day, the coming together in our modern context is similar in most occurrences.
- Designated place of worship (usually a building/steeple house)
- Designated order of service (welcome, prayer, singing, sermon, etc.)
- Designated teacher(s) or clergy
- Dismissal of the congregation or attendants
If indeed the new status quo is the top-down pastorally directed order that we see today, then what impact would practicing the breaking of bread we see in the New Testament have on the meeting dynamic we currently see and practice today? I would conclude that there are negative and positive aspects. Whether they are seen as negative or positive, however, depends on your perspective.
- Relationships with believers you do not know would be formed
- The focus would be on body unity and not body separation
- People will get to know you intimately
- Having things in common, treating each others homes as if they are your own would be the norm
- Time-frames and schedules would be difficult to adhere to
- The brethren would bear the burden of ensuring the public reading and teaching of doctrine, relieving the chore of a singular individual to do it week in and week out
- Brethren would be more compelled to bear one another's burdens
- The weaker members would be more difficult to ignore and neglect
- You would have to share your food with others
"...we as Christians would be required to step outside of ourselves, our individualism, and our selfishness and become genuine members of a functioning, living, breathing body, and that body is Christ's."
by Robert D. Cornwall. This entry in the series takes on the content of the Lord's Prayer as written in a series of sermons that were once delivered by Mr. Cornwall during the 'Lenten season.' Regardless of denominational affiliation, the Lord's Prayer is profoundly familiar to many believers and is easily one of the most recited. In sixty short pages, Cornwall addresses each stanza of the prayer as it was once taught to the inquiring disciples several thousand years ago. There is a catch however. Cornwall stands firmly on the premise that the prayer itself has a different agenda. Instead of rote liturgical repetition, the prayer really is an example of the disciple seeking his true and proper place and subverting himself to God the Father through Christ the Son in allegiance to the Kingdom of God.
Admittedly, I am intrigued by the topic of fasting. As sparse the evidence in the New Testament may be for pragmatism, I honestly believe the symphony of scripture provides plenty examples for our own personal implementation. What is addressed in this particular book treating the topic, is obviously anecdotal. What exactly is fasting, its past manifestations and origins, its contemporary examples, and just how do some of humans conduct ourselves while doing it? Jews, Christians, Muslims, and many other world religions, practice fasting. The question this book seeks to answer is, what in the world is your point? If you are fasting, is it to convince God to create a result in your favor? Or do you fast in response to something requiring the practice of body submission?
, you will find that he is consistent with his thesis, critically treats the text, and concludes the book with a fair view of the 'medical' impact fasting has on the human body. The most interesting nugget of them all came in knowing that physiologically, the human body can hold out during a fast for 40 days before all things go haywire. Pick this book up today if you are at all interested in learning about fasting and what it really is about biblically. Hint, it is not about what you will get, it is about why you do it. Sorry 
, I'm going to have to go with the Anabaptist Scholar on this one.
for the light it has shed on many of the scriptural nuances illustrated in this post.