Sharing Things in Common

THE first Christians were extraordinarily generous. In fact, “they had all things in common” (Acts 4:32-35), an ideal that pure communism advocated but never achieved. So were these first believers in some sense communists?

Absolutely not. In the first place, they were not setting up an economic system here, but simply responding to each other with gracious, Christlike compassion. Such behavior was one powerful result of the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). Unfortunately, not all New Testament believers demonstrated that kind of concern (Acts 5:1-11; 1 Corinthians 6:8; James 4:1-2).

Furthermore, Scripture never mandates an equal distribution of goods, nor does it call for the elimination of property or ownership. This passage (along with Acts 2:44-45) is a historical account, not a doctrinal treatise. It documents the work of God in building the early church.

In that day, as in ours, there were both rich and poor Christians (2 Corinthians 8:2; 1 Timothy 6:17-19). We need to remember that when the New Testament does address issues such as wealth, care for the poor, work, equality, widows, slaves, and public justice, it inevitably calls believers to compassion and generosity; but not to asceticism, the idea that one can become more godly through self-denial and renouncing worldly wealth. In fact, Paul warns against that (Colossians 2:18-23). Yes, the Bible condemns the love of wealth, but not its possession, as the love or overwhelming desire of it is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

Courtesy of Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.