“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Acts 2:42-47
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SEPTEMBER 11, 2024
Have you ever met a two-year-old who knows the word “mine?” These tiny people will forcefully pull a cracker, truck, or doll from someone else with a powerful shout of “Mine!”
Hopefully we learn some social skills as we age, but the basic premise stays in our hearts: we will fight for what’s ours if it is threatened.
As we saw on Monday, America places an unusually high value on individualism and self-reliance. American Christians are no different—a fact which is sharply contrasted by the community commitment of Jesus followers. But there is another American value that is also starkly contrasted in this scripture: wealth and possessions.
We are a culture that values upward mobility. Americans consider the word “blessing” nearly synonymous with “more.” We love rags to riches stories and “the American Dream,” where hard work pays off, allowing more opportunity, better real estate, larger savings accounts, more stuff.
But in the Church described here, no one claimed that any of their possessions belonged to them at all.
There was no “mine.” They shared (or sold, when needed) everything they had.
I doubt that anyone reading this (myself included!) has seriously wished our church had a policy of worshipping Jesus by owning all things in common, or imagined what our country would look like if Christians from coast to coast sold their possessions to meet the needs of the entire community. This seems a bit too radical for us today, truly unimaginable.
But this inability also suggests that we imagine this scenario as a glass half empty. This text reflects a joyful community with new members voluntarily joining every day. These people experienced great gain rather than loss. This was an opportunity for them, not a burden.
They did not look at their possession as “mine,” because they looked at their brothers and sisters in Christ and said, “they are mine.”
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- When you sit at church on Sunday, look around. Do you have a sense that these people belong to you, and you to them—to a far greater degree than your house, car, and “stuff”?
- How would things change if you did?
Church Reading Plan: Ezekial 14; Psalm 55