In the present age has there ever been a church of Christ that lived in constant contact with each other (literally), like the Christians in the first century church did, as described in Acts 2:42-47? If so, what was the result? - Joseph T.

Certainly many movements have striven to capture the simplicity and dedication of the early church. The church groups rooted in the Radical Reformation may have gone the furthest in this direction. Generally speaking, the more committed a group is -- the higher the expectation of holiness -- the more people stick together. They realize how much they need each other.

Yet these days there's a lot of competition to the original home-based, house church model. Megachurches and performance services may erode vital small group dynamics. As for "constant contact," I am not sure that would be healthy. People need space to grow. Solitude serves a valuable function. We may be social animals, but we also need time apart from the crowd. I believe Jesus demonstrated this.

Sometimes I hear it taught that they met daily. I think Luke is giving us a broad-brush peek at the early church. Christians were meeting each other daily, all over the city. Logically (and grammatically) this would not require every disciple to attend church meetings every day; rather, every day disciples could be found in fellowship. No legalism here. It's more organic -- authentic one-another Christianity.

To precisely answer your question, I should admit that I don't think it is possible to capture all the dynamics of Acts 2:42-47. There are no apostles today to work apostolic miracles (v.43). There are no temple courts anymore. So no one can literally imitate what we see in the capsule picture of Acts 2. But we can strive for the same attitude and spirit (Philippians 2:1ff). Are you doing that? Am I doing that? Is that our expectation?

Anyway, hundreds of books on church history illustrate this point. For some recommended titles, click here. I'd suggest an inspiring and balanced book is "Simple Church." There are many others in the previous link.

Thanks for your question.