Sharing Among Believers

Acts 4:32-37

It is interesting to note the unity of believers in these first few chapters of Acts. We saw earlier that the Christians were selling their possessions to care for the needs of others. Here we see a specific example of that and are introduced to the man Barnabas.

Notice the characteristics of the believers mentioned in this passage. They were of “one heart and one soul”, “not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own”, “there was not a needy person among them”. I believe this is the way God desires the church to function. That belief is confirmed by a study of the Bible’s teaching concerning the poor, widows and orphans. Consistently we are instructed to care for them.

The Bible is careful, however, to point out that there should not be abuse of this practice. For instance I Timothy 5 discusses the care and regulation of widows in depth. Notice in v. 4 that the first responsibility is with the children and grand-children of the widow. God felt so strongly about this that in v. 8 He tells us that if we don’t care for our own we are worse than an unbeliever. Additional regulations are listed in the following verses. If a widow doesn’t have family it is the church’s responsibility to care for her.

Notice the result of being obedient to the Lord’s commands in this area. Acts 4:33 tells us “abundant grace was upon them all”. That abundant grace is a part of the abundant life Jesus has promised (John 10:10).

We live in a very selfish society, one that depends on the government to care for the poor and needy. The majority of people are living beyond their means so if a crisis occurs where they desire to share they often are prevented from doing so because of their own financial condition. From God’s perspective giving should be our top financial priority but from the human perspective it is our bottom priority.

I pray that you will be sensitive and responsive to the needs God places on your heart. You will be richly blessed by that attitude.