As I speak on men’s team ministry to their widowed and single parents around the country, I often make the following statement: “It is God’s will for every church to be able to say, ‘There is not a needy person among us.'”
But is that really true? Does Scripture specifically teach that God’s will is to eradicate ongoing need within the local church?
I wrestled with this question as a student while working on my Master of Theology degree at Dallas Seminary. Part of my masters requirement was to do a thesis. I chose to do mine on the descriptions of the early church’s everyday life found in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47, NIV)
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’ grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”, sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. (Acts 4:32-37, NIV)
The first question I had to answer in my thesis was whether or not the events in these passages were exceptional or normative, descriptive or prescriptive. That is, was Luke simply recording what happened in the early church as extraordinary historical events without suggesting that this should become standard practice for all believers, or was Luke holding these believers up as examples for us to follow?
Many commentators take the first position: that these are exceptional events and not necessarily a model for the rest of the church. They do so for two primary reasons:
- Cults abuse these passages by encouraging their followers to sell everything and form communes.
- The church, some commentators say, was actually being disobedient in these passages. Jesus had commanded his disciples to go “into all the world” and preach the gospel. But instead, they remained in Jerusalem. It wasn’t until the martyrdom of Stephen and the severe persecution that followed in Acts 8 that the church was finally “scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.”
But after studying these two passages in their contexts in Acts and comparing them to the rest of the New Testament, I came to the conclusion that they should be taken as normative for all believers. Here’s why.
- These are the most thorough descriptions of early church life that we have in the New Testament, they are prominently placed towards the beginning of the book of Acts, and they are repeated twice for emphasis.
- There is no hint in either of these passages of any kind of disapproval. Luke could easily have indicated that if he wanted to.
- Rather, the tone of these passages is very positive.
- The rest of the New Testament repeats almost every concept in these passages. (i.e., apostles teaching, breaking of bread, prayer, one heart and mind, sharing, meeting together, praising God, etc.)
- Luke’s statement that “There was not a needy person among them” reflects a fulfillment of Deuteronomy 15:4 – “However, there will be no poor among you, since the LORD will surely bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess” (NASB).
- The evangelistic outcome indicates God’s approval: “The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Luke repeats this same outcome after the needs of the neglected Hellenistic widows were met with the appointing of the seven deacons in Acts 6:7, “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”)
- Luke singles out Barnabas, who later became a leading figure in the early church, as a specific example of someone who sold his land and set it at the apostles’ feet.
So what about the “commune” objection? Were people selling all their possessions when they became Christians and donating them to a common fund?
The answer is no. For the Greek nerds among us, the verb tense for “they sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need” is iterative imperfect, indicating repetitive action: “they kept selling.” In other words, a large percentage of the first believers were very poor. (The temple in Jerusalem was a magnet for beggars.) Believers didn’t sell everything when they first became Christians. Rather, as the need became evident that some believers were dying of starvation, out of love and concern for them, propertied believers kept selling their assets to meet the need.
The story of Ananias and Sapphara in Acts 5 illustrates how believers kept their property as their own after becoming Christians, but would, from time to time, sell their property to meet a great need. “Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold?” Peter asked Ananias in 5:4. “And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?”
So when Luke says that early believers “had everything in common,” he doesn’t mean they sold everything immediately upon becoming Christians and formed a common fund, but that they regarded their personal property as a source for meeting needs that arose within the congregation.
What we learn, then, from the descriptions of daily life in the early church in Acts 2 and 4 is that the eradication of need in a congregation of believers should be a primary goal of every church, is an indication of obedience to God, and forms a basis for evangelism in the local community.
Is this normative interpretation reflected in the rest of the New Testament? Yes. Paul’s command in Titus 3:14 illustrates this dual goal of both eradicating need and evangelism: “Let our people learn to engage in good deeds, to meet pressing needs, that they may not be unfruitful (i.e., lack new converts).” And John states in 1 John 3:17, “?If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” (NIV)
So, does Scripture teach that it is God’s will for every church to be able to say, “There is not a needy person among us”?
The answer is yes.
This post originally appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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