Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” vs. 4
Acts 4:32-35
There are some folks who have a hard time figuring out what to do with passages like this in scripture. The rejection of private ownership in favor of holding all things in common seems somehow wrong to our ears. At the very least it sounds unAmerican. We live in a land where leaders laud capitalism and the accumulation of wealth as basic principles. Some even believe that this economic system is favored by God, and they bristle at the notion that a more equitable distribution of wealth would even be considered. In their vocabulary socialism is a dirty word! So when we read in Acts that the earliest Christians were communist, well, that’s hard to take. What those believers understood, and what some of us have forgotten, is that the riches of this world are not just for the powerful or the clever, they really are to be shared by all. Accumulation is not the point of our lives! And when some people have billions while others live in poverty, it’s a sign that the distribution system has really gotten messed up. Now obviously no one person has caused this, and there’s no easy solution–but the bottom line is that we who are wealthy have a call from God to generously share. And we get to choose how we do it!
Thought for the Day: Why is it hard to be a generous giver?
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