Restoring Apostolic Faith

Early Christian life wasn’t Sunday-morning spiritual TED Talks and mid-week potlucks — it was a full-body, full-risk, covenant-shaped way of living.

Let’s paint the picture the way a first-century believer would’ve actually lived it.

1. Daily Life: Faith, Work, Sweat, and Shared Bread

Think: a small, tightly knit spiritual family — not a religious side-hustle.

They worked real jobs.

Fishermen. Craftsmen. Merchants. Midwives. Day laborers. Slaves and freedmen.

“Full-time ministry” wasn’t a thing. Paul making tents wasn’t quirky — it was expected.

They shared meals constantly.

“Breaking bread” wasn’t poetic language. It was daily life.

You learned people’s character by seeing them tired, dusty, stressed, or laughing over cheap wine.

They cared for the needy like literal family.

Widows, orphans, the poor — not a “program.” People. Flesh and blood. Brought into the household.

And they lived morally distinct lives.

No pagan festivals. No sacrifices to the emperor. No Roman “piety.”

It made them weird. Suspicious. Sometimes targeted.

(Imagine opting out of every popular holiday and all the patriotic rituals. Yeah — that weird.)

2. How They Worshiped (Spoiler: Not Sunday at 10 AM With a Fog Machine)

No church buildings for 250+ years. Everything happened in homes or courtyards.

A typical gathering included:

• Scripture readings (Hebrew + Greek Septuagint)

They didn’t have personal Bibles. They listened — deeply — and memorized like their lives depended on it.

• Teaching (homily-style, not polished sermons)

More discussion than monologue. More midrash than lecture.

• Prayer (standing, hands lifted)

Kneeling meant repentance. Sunday was resurrection day — you stood.

• Singing (simple, usually antiphonal)

No instruments. Too tied to pagan temples.

Think: haunting psalm-chants, not a Hillsong chorus.

• The Kiss of Peace

A real ritual — a sign of unity before Eucharist.

• The Eucharist

Always the climax. Always covenantal.

Only baptized believers. Only reconciled members.

Weekly at minimum. Often more.

3. How They Structured Community: Simple, Shared Leadership

Before the 2nd century, you didn’t have the later hierarchy. It grew organically.

Apostolic era:

• Apostles

• Elders/Presbyters (always plural)

• Deacons

• Prophets/Teachers (charismatic roles that slowly faded)

No CEOs. No solo pastors. No rockstars.

Late 1st–2nd century:

Ignatius of Antioch pushes for:

• One bishop per city

• Elders under him

• Deacons serving the flock

Why? Persecution + heresy. It held the community together.

By the 3rd century:

• Recognizable “offices”

• Regional cooperation

• More formal catechesis, baptisms, and liturgy

Still house-based. Still simple. Still family-sized.

4. How They Treated Each Other: Family, Not “Members”

When they said “brother” or “sister,” they meant it.

They:

• Confessed sins to each other

• Shared meals constantly

• Covered burial costs

• Adopted abandoned infants

• Rescued widows from poverty

• Worked side-by-side

• Met almost daily for prayer and Scripture

Christianity wasn’t a hobby. It was a shared life.

5. Persecution: Always in the Air

Most Christians didn’t die as martyrs — but the possibility was always there.

You might:

• Lose business

• Lose family

• Get mocked as an atheist

• Be reported

• Be arrested

• Be forced to swear loyalty to Caesar or die

Baptism was a line in the sand — a decision that could literally cost you your head.

6. Their Reputation: Scandalous and Magnetic

Romans accused Christians of:

• Atheism

• Cannibalism (misreading the Eucharist)

• Incest (calling spouses “brother”/“sister”)

• Hating humanity (skipping civic festivals)

But they admired Christians for:

• Mercy

• Courage

• Integrity

• Sexual purity

• Community care

• Their treatment of women, slaves, and children

They were strange — but compelling.

7. Catechesis: Slow, Serious, Transformational

No “repeat-after-me” sinner’s prayer.

Becoming a Christian took years.

You were:

• Examined

• Taught

• Trained

• Expected to renounce idols

• Expected to change your behavior

• Baptized — usually at Easter — only after your life matched your confession

Faith wasn’t an emotional moment.

It was a reshaped existence.

So What’s the Big Picture?

Early Christianity wasn’t something you attended.

It was a people you belonged to.

A family you lived with.

A covenant you embodied.

A kingdom you swore allegiance to — at real cost.

Honestly?

We would barely recognize them today…

and they would barely recognize us.