New Testament professor Kavin Rowe says the Acts of the Apostles offers six features of a community that make it thrive and that are the essence of the church.
One of those elements is “articulacy of belief,” or the ability of the disciples to describe why their community exists. They have to learn this idea and then transmit it in order to survive. The fledging Christian community in Acts must transmit its identity so that there is “continuity in community identity and mission.”
After watching the Avett Brothers in a live performance, I think I get it.
A few weeks ago on a Sunday, I found myself standing in a merciless downpour at MerleFest, a music festival in Wilkesboro, NC, that celebrates “traditional plus” music. We were waiting, along with hundreds of others, for the final act, the Avett Brothers.
This had not been my idea. My husband, daughters and a few friends follow and love American roots music, and I was just along for the ride. Hip by association.
We were all first-timers at MerleFest and had unfortunately picked the day that was meant for Noah and his ark. I’ve never seen so many cheerful people, wearing so many different kinds of raingear, happily slogging from one venue to the next to experience their favorite bands. We would have departed much earlier if not for the Avett Brothers.
As they came out on stage, everyone dropped their umbrellas and jumped to their feet, remaining standing for the entire performance. This middle-aged mom groaned as I realized that if I didn’t stand, I wouldn’t see. My “water-resistant” rain jacket and hood had been maxed out, and I resolved to grit my chattering teeth and endure by counting the number of songs until I could begin the long journey back to the warm, dry van.
Much to my surprise, what followed was a performance that made me stop counting.
My first reaction: this is what I want in a sermon! Brothers Seth and Scott transported me in a matter of seconds into each song, which included story, setting, intense emotions and unresolved questions. Like a good poem, the performance of each song transmitted a kernel of something vital and beautiful.
The brothers are not sophisticated, calculating types. They still leap around the stage like two scruffy kids in a garage band, and their music defies any single category like rock or punk or jazz.
I kept trying to put a name on what I was watching, but couldn’t.
Likewise Rowe says that the authorities in Acts are “stunned at the power of the sermon” that Peter gives in Acts 4 because they are “uneducated, common men.” But their message is transmitted in way that is genuine and powerful.
I think the Avett Brothers struck me that cold, wet day because they are young men who know the power of the stories they are trying to tell. They tell them in such a compelling way that remains rooted in the Concord community in which they were raised, the parents, family and neighbors who formed them, and the themes that have always been important to that community.
They sing with passion, with all of their beings, to the point of exhaustion. Like the disciples, they are able to learn, teach and transmit with incredible power. I am certainly no music critic, but I think that Christian institutional leaders have a lot to learn from these guys.
