"Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common." Acts 2:44
"Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common." Acts 4:32
Pastor Rubi was talking about God's economy compared to man's economic systems. He seemed to be unsure when it came to the common ownership that is mentioned in these two verses. He made it sound like there is no private property and anyone could take anything from anyone at any time. But I think this misses the point.
First, there are times in real outbreaks of revival, when lots of people are brought in in a short time, that community becomes very important. Sharing things from coffee to meals to clothing to cars to housing. It is not a plan for living. It does meet a need and it gives people an opportunity to share the love of God in practical ways. It is a common expression everywhere revival breaks out.
Second, we practice community property in our church today. Who owns our building? We own it corporately. We do not have official membership in our church. But if you are a part of this church, you have every right to use the facilities, drink the water, use the restrooms, etc. any time you choose or need to. Yes there are those who receive offerings and those who give offerings. There are those who manage church finances and those who give advice on that management. We do not all have legal right to this building, but we use it like we own it. Having pastors who must give account for their actions gives me great peace about our structure.
This is not hard to understand. It may be a challenge to fit this truth into our preconceived notions of right and wrong. But it has worked throughout modern church history. And it has worked in our Fellowship for all of it's existence.
One final thought. The word together in Acts 2:44 is a word that means they were all in the same place for the same reason.
Truth is made light through the church.
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