I suspect most people who tell me they want to be part of an "Acts 2" community haven't soberly thought through all the implications. After all, knowing people "for real" is difficult. So, trust me when I say, I completely understand why most of the evangelical church takes on a preacher and pew format: lots of pain is averted. It's difficult to be irritated by a person who sees me only a couple hours a week, most of that time spent singing or silent while engaging a common focal point (Band? Preacher? The Lord?).
Now, before anyone takes the above as a slam - don't. It's perfectly normal to take steps to relieve tension. As a father, I do it in my family and, I'm sure, you do it in yours. The problem is we (parents) often relieve the tension to the detriment of what's best for the family, namely character development.
Not long before Robert Webber (author and professor) died he was asked the question, "What does your tradition [evangelical] do so well that you could lead the rest of us [mainline, liberal] in?" Knowing evangelicalism wasn't fairing too well in current conversations, he replied "passion." And he was right; most evangelical church expressions have a deep love and passion for Jesus. This is to be commended!
At the same time, we must remember Jesus's words, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Mt 22:37-39). Inherent in Jesus's command is this: we must love the real God (i.e. not sanitized) and we must love our real neighbors, mood swings and all. And to do that, we must continually put ourselves in those, often uncomfortable, situations where our God and neighbor is real. If we don't we might just be living in a "dream world."
