DEVOTION
THE ACTS OF THE
APOSTLES
QUESTIONS TO
PONDER
Acts 4:32-37
32 All the believers were one
in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but
they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to
testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them
all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who
owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it
at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. 36
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means
Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put
it at the apostles' feet.
NIV
This was certainly a unique situation
that happened to this early church. It is doubtful that would happen in this post-modern
church. To claim that any of our possession is not our own and to share everything
we have with all the others are just not going to happen. We live in such a society,
even within the church, that what is ours is ours because it is ours. Sure, we give
some money, but not anything which is going to keep us from gathering more stuff
for ourselves. It is still unlikely they sold their homes, but just their possessions.
We also wonder just how many possessions people of that time owned. Even Barnabas
who sold a field that he owned gives way to the question if that was the only field
he owned. Was it the smallest of several fields he owned? Did he work in those fields?
Was he a farmer, or was it a vineyard field? Still, it is unlikely that anyone
today would sell any property and give all the proceeds to the church. Why did the early church conduct itself in that way and have we lost that commonness among the church today? We even wonder if we can say that all believers are of
one heart and mind. Of course, we know that is not true because of all the
division of theological issues among the various denominations that consider
themselves either evangelical or fundamental, and then we have many who are considered
mainline denominations that would not admit that a person needs to be born
again to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is even doubtful that many of us would
follow in the footsteps of the Apostles, continuing, if we ever really started,
to testify of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This grace that was upon
them, and this is not the grace which is the gift of God, or unmerited favor, in
that sense, as it carries this concept of the divine influence upon a man’s
heart and how that is reflected in his life. So, then the Apostles had a great
deal of influence upon their hearts, and it was reflected by the fact they
testified to the resurrection of Jesus. How do we deal with the information we
have been given here? Can we have all things in common? Can we all be of one
mind and heart, even within a single church? Can we, or should we, adopt this
type of Christianity, or was that just for those early days? Then we should
also consider what would consist of having a need. In our modern era, we
all have so much and there will always be some who have more than others and
some who have less than others. We live in a society that does not promote either
the socialist or communistic agenda and even within them, there are always those
who are in leadership roles who have far more than the common people, as both
fail to meet the same heart and mind concept those of the early church had
as well as all people still do not have all things in common. Have we all
failed to live up to the way God intended, or does the word of God allow us to
evolve in accordance with our culture? Questions we may have to ponder on.
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