April 6, 2010
Read Acts 1: 12-14
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of* James. 14All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
TODAY’S REFLECTIONS
Ronald Heifetz, author of Leadership Without Easy Answers, speaks of the importance of “balcony space”. As I recall, he encourages leaders to take time to get the right people to gather together, spend time together, and look objectively at situations from a “different level”. When we are able to look at a situation from a different perspective, we are often able to make needed change that helps us to be more effective.
For the early Christians to have any impact, they could not “go at it alone”. They needed each other. They needed the support of others. They needed their prayers. They needed fresh insights to how to handle difficult situations and people who were challenges to them. They needed the regular gathering of each other to pause, reflect, and provide a new perspective. Gathering of Christians in every generation should be more than just a gathering. It should be “balcony space” or a gathering in the “upper room”. We can have our balcony time in personal prayer, in private devotions, but lets never forget the power that comes from the gathering with other Christians. The early church would never have had the strength to reach out had they not stuck “together”, hung out together, and were a physical reminder to each other that God had big plans for their mission.
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