Some Gave All

By Steve Dennie
Acts 4:32-37

I'm giving Pastor Tim a choice. Which would he prefer?

• That the people of Anchor share the same heart and mind.
• That the people of Anchor freely share all their possessions with each other.

Which is harder to pull off? One is measurable, the other abstract and mental.

Acts 4:32 says those early Christians did both. We Americans, so conscious of money and possessions, focus on the second part. But the verse actually starts by saying, "All the believers were one in heart and mind." Wow, that's pretty significant. And we just skip over it and go right to the money part.

What were they one in heart and mind about? This Christianity thing was all new to them. They were sort of making it up as they went, feeling their way along, trying to discern how they should now live their lives. There were no classes to take, no books to read. Nobody had written out a set of doctrinal beliefs. So there probably wasn't all that much to agree on. But I'm guessing that their heart-and-mind agreement included these things:

1. Jesus really did rise from the dead just a few weeks before.
2. Everything must change.
3. The Holy Spirit has revolutionized their lives, and they'll never be the same.
4. They've got to tell others about what has happened in their lives.
5. Loving others is really really important.

Those early believers shared the same passion for Christ and for loving others, and they could never go back to the way things were before. They had been transformed. And one result was that they shared everything they owned. But it started with sharing the same mindset.

What would that look like at Anchor? It goes way, way beyond liking the same music, dressing casually, and agreeing that Tim's a pretty nice guy.

Now, as commendable as it was to share all their possessions, this is not a command that we must follow. Acts just tells what happened in the early church. They did some good things, and some misguided things. Like I said, they were figuring things out as they went. Only here, in the very early days after Jesus ascended, does the Bible tell about believers sharing all their possessions, and even selling land and homes to share with other believers. They were fallible people operating purely on unbridled passion.

Should Pam and I sell our house, bring the money to Pastor Tim, and say, "Distribute this to other people in need"? After all, that's what the early Christians did.

Well, it's quite possible that we should. Can't rule it out. Jesus did tell one fellow that to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. Following Jesus isn't supposed to be safe and convenient and full of bling.

But (back to Acts), a few years later, in Romans 15, the Apostle Paul is going around Macadonia and other places taking up an offering for the believers in Jerusalem. What's that all about?

Let me be very contrarian. Could it be that, in liquidating their assets, those Jerusalem Christians did something foolish? It was certainly done out of a good heart. But was it wise in God's eyes? They gave away their assets, and now they needed a bailout. How did God view it?

I'm asking, because I don't know. I'm just wondering.

And yet, I'll bet that those people who sold land and homes had no regrets. God takes care of his people. You find that out when you give until it hurts. That's what those early Christians did. They weren't giving out of their abundance, but giving everything.

And maybe, in being freed of taking care of property and hoarding possessions, those early Christians felt a true liberation. They were now free to throw themselves fully into changing the world.

Which is what they did. What started with a handful of people, then grew into a few thousand people, now accounts for several billion people throughout the world. I would say that that's worth selling a few acres.