letters to surfers
Q. Shouldn't real Christians give away all their possessions (Acts 2:44-45)?
by Robert Brow (www.brow.on.ca)
When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost there was
an immediate longing to share with one another. It has been suggested this
was a kind of Christian communism. But this sharing was voluntary (Stalin
forced people to live in communes). It was not a church requirement as
Peter made clear in the case of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:4).
The selling of possessions (5:34-37) did not mean that people did
not own or rent houses to live in (Acts 12:12, 28:30, Romans 16:5),
or tools for their trade (Acts 18:3), or the clothes and books needed
for their work (2 Timothy 4:13). In the old days every village had
common land, and every Christian can make some things common for all to
enjoy. We offer our house for a meeting, they lend their cottage for a
conference, you lend me your truck for a move, she gives her time to provide
a church supper, and all of us give money for the work of our church and
those in need.
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