Recently in our house group we went
through the passages of Acts 2:41-47 and 4:32-35. There we read:
Acts 2:41-47
“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there
were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in
prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by
the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all
things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all
men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one
accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their
meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour
with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be
saved.”
and Acts 4:32-35
“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things
which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles
witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them
all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as
many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of
the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and
distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.”
When I first came across these passages I was totally
overwhelmed: they had all things in common; they sold their possessions and
distributed to everyone as he had need; there was none among them lacking!
Having read these passages, I also felt perplexed and many questions came to my
mind: does what we just read mean that we are not to own anything and instead
we must put it together into a common fund? If this is God’s will for us why we
don’t hear much about this in the church today and moreover why we don’t see
these passages lived this way? Is to possess something right or wrong? I asked
at that time the brother that was teaching me the Word of God. His answer was
that the Word says that those who were possessors of lands and houses (PLURAL)
sold them. In other words, those who had just one house or just a piece of land
they didn’t necessarily sell it. The Greek language is quite clear on this, as
otherwise the Word could very well say “those that were possessors of a land or
a house sold them” instead of speaking of lands and house. Still however I
didn’t feel fully settled with my questions, though at that time these were not
challenging questions to me: I was a student that was more on the receiving
side of the equation that on the giving :-)). Nevertheless, these passages
really stacked out as a part of a Christian life that it was very difficult to
find in our world.
Today I would like to go through what the Word of God
says not only about the above two passages of Acts but also about the topic of
possessions in general. And let me make clear from the outset that though many
times we will be speaking about material possessions I believe what we will see
applies to any possessions that God may have put in our trust, as for example
talents and time. As the topic is quite big we may need one additional issue to
give a more complete picture.
With the time, quite much after my first encounter
with Acts 2:41-47 and 4:32-35, I came to realize that the fact that today we
don’t see many selling their possessions and putting them in a common stock, is
not something unscriptural. Acts 2 and 4 do not tell us that every Christian
has to sell his possessions and put the proceedings into a common fund. The
position of the apostles on the matter can be seen by reading a little bit
further in Acts 5:1-4. There we read:
Acts 5:1-4
“But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a
certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why
hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part
of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it
not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in
thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”
“Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after
it was sold, was it not in thine own power?”. If Ananias had kept his property
and didn’t sell it, it would NOT be a sin. Ananias’ sin was not that he own a
land but that he brought part of the price to the apostles, presenting it as
the whole price. It was lawful to have land and it was lawful to keep the full
proceedings from its sale. What it was not lawful however was to present these
proceedings to God and the church as the full price of the land. This was a lie
to God and this was what Peter condemned. We can infer therefore from this that
it is not a sin to own material possessions nor that in the 1st century church
everybody had to sell his possessions after he became a Christian.
Also moving further in the New Testament, we can see
that in the church of Corinth contributions were taken every week for the needs
of the saints (I Corinthians 16:1). The same we also see in Acts 11:27-30
where, due to a famine, contributions were taken and sent to the brothers in
Judea. They were not asked to sell their possessions but to give an offering,
to make a contribution. In addition the existence of poor shows by itself that
they didn’t have everything in common, in a common fund in Jerusalem let’s say,
as in this case there would be no need for Paul to ask the Corinthians for a
donation: they would have given everything to the common fund anyway.
Moreover, in the Old Testament there are many examples
of people who God blessed with material possessions. Abraham, Job, David,
Solomon, Jacob are some examples of people who were indeed owners of much
material wealth, which came from God.
From the above therefore we can say that the practice
described in Acts 2 and 4, is clearly not a biblical command or something that
somebody has to do when he becomes a Christian. Instead it was a voluntary act
that the members of the church of Jerusalem did. God does honour ownership and
we must not feel condemned that we haven’t sold our house or land and we
haven’t put the proceedings into a common stock. The above passages however do
convey a message that goes far more than the Jerusalem of that time. God does
have a purpose that put these passages there. And I believe one purpose is to
shows us the right view towards material possessions. Certainly it is not sin
to own material possessions or even to be rich. Otherwise we would have to
delete all the rich guys from the Bible and I’m afraid if we did this we would
eliminate a large portion of it! God does give blessings also in the financial
field. As He says in Malachi 3:10-12 speaking about the tithe :
Malachi 3:10-12
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I
will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer
for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground;
neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the
LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a
delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. ”
Also
in Psalms 112:1-3 we
read:
"Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that
delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth:
the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house:
and his righteousness endureth for ever."
It is not therefore wrong for somebody to have
possessions. Going back to Acts however, it does mean that we must have the
right attitude towards possessions. What is this attitude? It is the attitude
that recognizes that everything belongs to God. That He is the provider and all
is His. As Job, the wealthiest man at his time, said when he suddenly lost
everything:
Job 1:21
“Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD
hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. ”
It means to recognize that everything belongs to God,
and we are nothing else that stewards to Him. As the Living Application Study
Bible comments on Acts 4:32 :
“None
of these Christians [the Christians we saw in Acts 4:32] felt that what they
had was their own, and so they were able to give and share, eliminating poverty
among them. They would not let a brother or sister suffer when others had
plenty. How do you feel about your possessions? We should adopt the attitude
that everything we have comes from God and we are only sharing what is already
his”
Also
as I John asks:
I John 3:17
“But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and
shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in
him? ”
and
as James repeats:
James 2:15-16
“If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you
say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye
give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
”
We can’t say that the love of God dwells in us when a
brother or a sister next to us is destitute of daily food and we can help them,
yet we “shutted up our bowels of compassion from them”. The Word of God is
clear: we are to meet each other’s needs. We are to help each other. Jesus
Christ Himself had a bag for the poor! Helping each other, caring for each
other’s needs is one of the most important characteristics of being a family. I
don’t know about your family but in my family I know that we will never suffer
that somebody has a need and we will not help. We stand together with each
other. The same has to happen in the spiritual family as well. We are bothers
and sisters to each other. Therefore, we MUST NEVER CLOSE OUR BOWELS OF MERCY
TO OUR SUFFERING BROTHERS. James uses what we read from James 2:15-16 as an example
of faith without works. For in verse 17 says:
James 2:17
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
To say to somebody God bless you does not help much if
we are not willing, to help, though we can.
Now, having read all the above, does it mean that we
are to help everybody without qualification? Does it mean that we are to meet
every need that we see in front of us? I believe it doesn’t. Proverbs 3:27
tells us:
Proverbs 3:27
“Withhold no good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your
hand to do”
Indeed there is a command to “withhold no good”. This
is a command from God, and it is the same command we also saw in James and in
John. We are indeed to do good. We are indeed to share our limited resources
with others that have need. But the verse continues adding two qualifications.
We are to withhold no good:
I) from those to whom it is due and
II) when it is in the power of our hand to do it.
The first qualification means that not all those who
you see as needing help, they really need help. II Thessalonians 3:6-15 gives
an example of a case like this one:
II Thessalonians 3:6-15
“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye
withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after
the tradition which he received of us. For yourselves know how ye ought to
follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; Neither did we
eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and
day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: Not because we have not
power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded
you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which
walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them
that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with
quietness they work, and eat their own bread. But ye, brethren, be not weary in
well doing. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man,
and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an
enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
In the church of Thessalonica, there were some
brothers that were not willing to work. They were lazy. And laziness does bring
poverty (Proverbs 10:4, 24:33-34). The Word of God does not consider these
persons as persons to whom “good is due”. Instead it very clear: if you don’t
want to work then don’t eat either. The church should not support but instead
it should withdraw from those brothers so that they become ashamed and start a
change. Paul himself never asked for support when he was there but he was
working hard so that he would not burden anybody. The Word of God is clear: if
a person is poor and his poverty is due to laziness then he is not a person to
whom support is due. The solution to his poverty is not support but work. It
may sound hard but as the Word says in Proverbs 16:26 : “He who labours labours
for himself, for his mouth craves it from him”. Poverty in this case is not
something bad but a stimulant that may help the lazy person to move out of his
laziness.
Also a second qualification is “when it is in the power
of your hand to do it”. This in turn implies that you cannot cover everything.
There are things that you may see, needs that you may feel and yet it is not in
your hand to cover them. This qualification is also present in the verse from
John we read previously: “But whoso hath this world's good”. As Bill Hybels
says concerning this point1:
“the
book of Proverbs tells us not to condemn ourselves or to slip into despair
because we think we are failing a needy world. At such times we must say
tenderly but firmly, “It is not in my power to do that.” Then we need to trust
God to assign that particular task to someone else.”
Moving further, we can see that apart from the above
qualifications, there are also some other priorities that God Himself has set.
One such priority is given in I Timothy 5:8 :
I Timothy 5:8
“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house,
he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
What this verse tell us is that first priority have
those who are “of our own household”. We do have the responsibility to provide
for them first. As Proverbs 6:1-5 say:
Proverbs 6:1-5
“My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with
a stranger, Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with
the words of thy mouth. Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art
come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thyself as
a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. ”
As the Life Application Bible comments on this
passage:
“These
verses are not a plea against generosity, but against overextending one’s
financial resources and acting in irresponsible ways that could lead to
poverty. It is important to maintain a balance between generosity and good
stewardship. God wants to help our friends and the needy, but he does not
promise to cover the costs of every unwise commitment we make. It is equally
important to act responsibly so that our family does not suffer”
To summarize what we have seen up to now:
God wants us to view our possessions as belonging to
Him. He must be free to do whatever He wants with them.
God does call us to be open and to not shut up our
bowels of compassion from those who have need among us. The command to do good
comes however with some qualifications:
I) do good to those who is due and
II) if it is in our hands.
Finally, family obligations do get priority over any
other obligations. We are not expected to help others when our own family is
needy, but we do expected to do it when these needs are covered.
I think few topics are more complicated than the topic
of possessions2. I find the topic of possessions as one
that needs very good balance. The Bible is clear that God does blesses His
children with material possesions. It is also clear that He does wants us to be
good stewards of everything He has given us including our possessions. After
all it is HE that has provided it to us. It belongs to Him. On the other hand
the Word of God warns a lot about the dangers coming from loving possessions.
Here is how Paul sees the matter, speaking by revelation:
I Timothy 6:6-12
“But godliness with
contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is
certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be
therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil:
which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these
things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,
meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto
thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many
witnesses. ”
We brought nothing into this world and obviously we
can carry nothing out. Food and shelter is actually all that we need,
materially speaking. Do you have food and shelter? Millions of people in this
same world that you and I live, under this same heaven, do not. They are hungry
and homeless. Having food and shelter let us be content. God does give material
blessings. We saw such examples in the Bible. But it is He that gives, not we
that desire them! If YOU desire to be rich and wealthy then you are already in
a temptation. And as James says about temptation:
James 1:13-15
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be
tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when
he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. ”
The word “lust” here actually means “desire”. If you
desire to be wealthy, it is clear: you are heading towards sin. Desiring to
becoming wealthy is a sinful desire that will bring forth deadly fruit in its
time. It is not wealth by itself the problem. It is the desire to be wealthy
that is the problem. Do you want to be more and more wealthy? Is this your
desire? If yes then you err and you need immediately to change. Job was the
wealthiest man of the east. But he didn’t love wealth! Here is his witness:
Job 31:19-28
“If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;
If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were notwarmed with the fleece of
my sheep; If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my
help in the gate: Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm
be broken from the bone. For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by
reason of his highness I could not endure. If I have made gold my hope,
or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; If I rejoiced because my
wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; If I beheld the
sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; And my heart hath been
secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: This alsowere an iniquity to be punished by the
judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.”
Job was the wealthiest man of the east but his wealth
was not his joy! He didn’t put his trust in wealth. And I believe this is the
important matter: where our trust is? Job’s trust was in God. Job’s security
was not the bank account or the big property, but God. Not the gold, but the
Lord. That’s why he reacted the way he did when he lost everything: “God gave
it, God took it”, he said. Job, on this matter too, was but a steward of God.
This doesn’t mean that he was careless and lazy about his business. He had
people working for him. He had a real business, the biggest business of his
time. And yet look at his attitude. He was not touched by wealth. It was not
his aim. I’m sure his business was very good. Not because of Job’s cunning
methods but because God blessed it. But for Job everything was coming from God
and belonging to Him. He wouldn’t forgive to himself to rejoice about his
possessions, or put his trust in money. We can find out how far we are from him
by observing our behavior. What happens when wealth is pouring in? How do we
react? Do we rejoice in possessions? How do we react when we lose things? Is
financial prosperity, to be wealthy, one of our aims? God does give material
blessings, but why should we put out focus on them? Why should we desire to be
wealthy? Having food and raiment BE CONTENT, says the Word! It is not the
blessings our focus but GOD. It is not the bank account our security but the
LORD. It is not gold our confidence but Christ!
An opposite
example, an example of man that put his trust on money, we find in Luke
12:13-21. There we read:
Luke
12:13-21
“And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he
divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge
or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of
covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things
which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a
certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself,
saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And
he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and
there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul,
Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink,
and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. ”
Both the man of
the parable and Job were rich men. But this is their only similarity. While
Job’s joy was not dependant on his wealth, and his gold was not his confidence,
this man here is the exact opposite. He is the picture of a worldly wealthy
man. Unfortunately many of us have been grown with worldly standards of success
and these standards more often than not, measure success with how much we earn.
A job is a good job if it gives you a lot and a bad job if it is not. No word
about contentment if we have to eat and we have a roof above us. So this guy
here was a “successful” man. The ground brought to him so much that he didn’t
know where to put all this. So here is what he decided: “And he said, This will
I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all
my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods
laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry”. It was not
the plenty that was bad. The ground brought forth a lot. Wealth came to him.
This by itself was not a problem. The problem is what he decided about it and
how he faced the whole matter. And the challenge is the same for us: what do we
do with wealth? Now you may say, brother I’m only earning enough to live … so
this passage is irrelevant to me. Praise the Lord that you have to live! Be
content with this. But I believe this parable is not only for the rich men.
This guy waked up one day and found himself with a lot. If you are not clear
about wealth, if you don’t have clear Biblical values on the matter then, if
wealth arrives to you, as it did to this man and also as it did to Job, it
might be a snare and a temptation. So the problem with this man was not that he
had a lot but his reaction towards this. In everything that he says the word
“I” and “my” is preeminent. Where is God in all this? Where is a thanksgiving
to God? Where is the recognition that He is the owner of all this and we are
but mere stewards that must not get attached to what He has entrusted us. It is
all His. So he failed to recognize the provider of the good crop. He failed to
give glory to the owner of everything. Instead he considered everything as
belonging to him. This was his first folly. Others followed it too: “I will
pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits
and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for
many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry”. Plans, plans and more
plans. But with what aim? Not to help the poor, not to treasure to God, not to
even help his family and friends. All the planning was about him. “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry”.
All his well being was based on wealth. He rejoiced greatly in it. He now
thought, “relax… now I have obtained the aim: drink eat be merry.” This is the
aim of many people: “eat, drink, be merry. Be problem-free! Make lots of money
so that now or afterwards, to be able to eat, drink and be merry.” Returning to
our fellow, one further folly of him is that his planning was like the planning
of a man that was going to live forever here! But in the midst of this selfish
planning God spoke to him saying: “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” This
guy was a fool. He put his confidence on wealth thinking that it would make him
problem free. In other words, he did exactly the opposite of what Job did: gold
became his confidence. As Jesus said: “Take heed, and beware of covetousness:
for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he
possesseth.” A man’s life does not consist of what he has. And this is what we
see with this rich man: the day of his selfish plans for a happy life trusting
on wealth, became a night of pain and death.
Returning to
planning, it is not planning itself that is bad but selfish planning as was the
planning of this fellow. As James said in James 4:13-16
"Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into
such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas
ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a
vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye
ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye
rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.”
What James condemns here is not planning. But plans
that are based on the “I”. Only God knows the future. We know nothing, not even
for the next second. We may well not be alive in the next hour. Who knows? Do
you know? Only God knows. The planning of the rich man and the planning of
these guys here was nothing more than a vain boasting in their self. “If the
Lord will, we shall live and do this and that”. This is the right way to do a
plan and to think about the future. It is right to do plans, it is right to do
to the best out of whatever God has put in your hand. What is wrong is to trust
in what God has put in your hand, to trust in wealth instead of trusting in
God. This will indeed bring you to destruction
Proverbs 11:28
“He that trusteth in his riches shall fall”
while Psalms 1:1-2 tell
us:
“Happy is the man that….. his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law
doth he meditate day and night”
Happiness is not a matter of how big are your
possessions but of how close you are to Lord. If you trust in wealth you will
fall but if you rejoice in the Word of God you will be happy.