Today's Meditation
Read Acts 4:32-37
32Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. 35They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”). 37He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
These verses talk about how the new followers of Christ were suddenly different in terms of the way they treated one another. They were of one heart and soul, no one claimed private property, but everything they owned was held in common. Image how that would work in our current culture. We seem to be going in the opposite direction, where the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. I'm not necessarily advocating for such a system, but it is how the first Christians stood out among the Jews and surrounding Gentiles. The result of such a system was that there wasn't a needy person among them.
Are there aspects of this system that we could adopt and follow? Are there ways that we could bring about a more egalitarian society? A more balanced nation? History shows that the strongest nation comes from the one that has the largest and strongest middle class. Unfortunately, we are losing that today - it was in a steady decline since the 1970's, but in the last 20 years has declined sharply. Maybe those first Christians were on to something!
(Just a note: the following chapter in Acts includes a story about a husband and wife that didn't follow the rules of this "new world order". It isn't pretty. But the emphasis shouldn't be about what happened to them, but rather on what they did - they lied - and as Peter puts it, they lied not to their fellow Christians, but to God.)
Glory with John Legend
Some might wonder why I chose this song when the story from Acts is about economic equality, not about racial equality. However, they go hand-in-hand. As has been pointed out to me, whites in America have been given 400 years to acquire their wealth, while Blacks in America have barely been given 50 years to do so, and not even on an equal playing field. So, where there is racial inequality, there is also economic inequality.
Lots to think about in today's reading from Acts regarding our own wealth and nation - is it really Christian?
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