Luke Timothy Johnson in his excellent book, Prophetic Jesus, Prophetic Church: The Challenge of Luke-Acts to Contemporary Christians, makes what might seem to be an odd suggestion, but I think is true to life. He thinks that the narratives of what happened in the story of the church in Acts are idealistic, not in the sense that it did not happen that way, but in the sense that the narrative presents a picture which does not necessarily take into account everything (my own words in expressing my understanding of the point Johnson was making). Of course the narrative does bring up some notable matters which depart from the ideal such as Ananias and Sapphira, and the sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas. The point is that the Spirit saw fit to bring out aspects of what God was doing. All of that should be taken in context of all the rest of scripture and indeed of life. We know God moves through broken jars of clay, cracked pots. And that there is no person (apart from Jesus himself) or community which has arrived.
The idea of falling short of the ideal does not at all mean we should simply shrug off the possibility of really living out the truth as it is in Jesus, or that living God’s will is not attainable in this life. Actually this idea rather should be an encouragement to us. That in spite of our weaknesses, and at times, even sins, which we do need to confess and turn away from, that in spite of everything, God is at work in us to bring out nothing less than his will. That indeed we are God’s workmanship, or handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works.
This idea doesn’t give us a license to sin since we will fall short anyhow. It just goes to show that the break out and break through of new life in this life will often be messy and at times seem weak at best. And yet God is at work to make something beautiful both for the long term as well as for where we live now. Jesus is made known even through people like us, who indeed haven’t arrived.
And so we go on as we are, as God works to remake us in Jesus, and brings out the beauty of Jesus even through us together in him for the world.