This morning, I was reading in Acts about the early church.
Each time I read or just hear about the way that the early church interacted with each other, I get this excitement and amazement as if it is the first time I have heard any of it!
In Acts 4:32-37, it talks about all the believers just coming together and sharing all their possessions with each other… and when I read that, something inside of me just yearns to be like that.
The fact is… I AM SO OPPOSITE OF THAT!
The Lord is slowly but surely setting me free from this sinful nature though.
I am constantly realizing how bound up I am in doing things the world’s way. My default is ALWAYS to think of things from a logical (worldly) way. I see everything from the perspective of being raised in America.
Everytime that I have traveled out of the country (particularly to third world countries), I am amazed at how easy it is for people to share! It seriously NEVER crosses their minds to be stingy about anything. People will offer me (a perfect stranger) some of their most prized possessions.
I, on the other hand, struggle with the stupidest things! Like a bratty 2 year old, I get my panties all in a knot when one of my roommates drinks one of my cokes or uses my computer without asking!!! I mean… as I type that out, I really just want to bend myself over and give myself some spankings, because I know that’s what I deserve!
But, I think sometimes we forget why it’s important to share. Most of the time we are taught that it’s just polite to share with others… it kinda avoids confrontation… or it will make people think you are extra nice, and then they’ll repay you later or something.
But… What I read this morning scared the crap out of me!
If you keep reading past Acts 4, into Acts 5… you’ll see a turn on happy communal living. “Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property…”
The story goes a little something like this… This dude and his chick went to this church where everyone was selling all their crap because they realized that the Kingdom of God was much more important than any of their possessions that really didn’t mean anything in the first place. So… people would sell stuff like their land or a house or maybe a donkey that had some flashy new rims on it… and they would just bring all the money they got and gave it to the church so that everyone could share. This way, their needs were met, but, so were the needs of the lady with 3 kids whose husband just died.
So… this cunning little couple decided that since everyone else was doing it, they better jump in and make a nice little donation as well. So, they sold some land and donated some of the money. Great!… IN AMERICA! The key word their was some. God didn’t require some of their possessions, He wanted them to bring all of what they made. Oh well… next time maybe they’ll sell something else when their kids are through college and they have met all the donkey payments for that new donkey that they had to buy for their 16 year old kid… then they’ll be “financially stable” and they’ll be in a place to give all of their crap away.
Again… nice thought in America… but, God was like… “naahh… I think I would just rather kill you instead”… so, He did… Both the man and his wife!
All because they wouldn’t share!!
I think that next time your 2 year old thinks that their toys are really their own, you should just sit them down and have story time… “And then… God killed them because they thought that their toys were their own… The End.”
It scares me because God obviously cares a lot about this… and the church (at least for the most part in America) really doesn’t care a lot about this. This is a problem!
It’s a problem when my first gut instinct when someone I live with eats some of my food is anger.
It’s a problem when people in our church body are doing without, and we are content to simply smile and shake their hand during greeting time.
It’s a problem when people all across this planet are suffering more than we could ever imagine, even in the worst circumstances that we go through, and we say “It’s not my problem.”
God wants us to share more than just our toys when we’re a kid. For some reason, we are so prone to forget that.
And seriously… It doesn’t make a lick of sense. But, like my prayer for myself has been lately… we have to ask the Lord to “Increase my faith… because there is NO stinkin’ way I can even begin to operate like this on my own!”
A perfect example of this…
Today at work, I saw such a selfless picture of exactly what I wrote about. This lady that I’ve come to know is an immigrant from Mexico City with 3 children and a husband that is now doing time for stealing prescription drugs to feed a habit that she didn’t even know he had.
Right now, she works all night polishing the floor at Albertson’s, and looking for a job during the day that will allow her to stay home with her children at night. Obviously, she doesn’t just have a ton of money…
Today, she walked in and brought one of my coworkers this new purse that she had. A few weeks ago, my coworker gave her a compliment about the purse… so, she just decided to give it to her! It wasn’t even a big deal for her…
I wish I was more like that…
umm lets talk about how amazing this post is! I share in your frustration of not being more like the woman you share about her. I HATE THAT I AM GREEDY. I hate that every time i am about to spend money I think of how much it is costing. I hate that I get so stingy with my things like not wanting to take my car so I dont waste my gas. AHHH I am so sinful! Thanks for the reminder of how important it is to share. I need a makeover in that area…
Thank you for this reminder of the importance of sharing. I think this really does get pushed aside as we get older.
Don’t worry you are totally welcome to come eat at the Mosiers next week. Matt wants Tacos on Monday!
Um, not to detract at all from the meaning of the post, but I believe they were killed b/c they lied. Act 5:3…Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”
The money belonged to Ananias to do with what he wanted, but he lied. True, he was greedy and self-centered, but it seems to me he and his wife were killed b/c they lied. Just thought I’d share.
Good point… I should have read into that a little more. That may not have been the best scripture to back up the point that I was making about sharing. God just happened to use that passage to spark that thought in me.
But… maybe we should just use this story to tell our kids about the seriousness lying, and how God may kill them for that! Ha!
My blog linked to this post, but I’m so glad I clicked on the random ‘possibly related link’ as was listening to a sermon on this very passage on Sunday.
Something I really struggle with, and I think most people do. We think our possessions are something we have a right to, and we hoard and miss out on the blessing of giving and sharing.