Scripture Makes Kingdom People

Acts 4:32-35

If you want to see the incompatibility of the way of the world with the kingdom of God, look no further than the Sermon on the Mount. You cannot get past the second Beatitude (“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted,” Matt 5:3) before you realize that this is an otherworldly way of life. Nobody in the world would say that people who mourn are blessed; and the rest of Jesus’ teachings are even more incompatible. “Lust is the same as adultery?! I’m just checking out the view!” “Love my enemies?! Do you know what that person did to me?” There is a completely different standard of values and practices in the kingdom of God, no matter how you slice it.
In the book of Acts, we see the kingdom of God springing forth. God’s Spirit is on the move, and people are being introduced to a new way of life under his kingship and rule. The teachings of Christ as passed through the Apostles are the standard of living as people leave the old way of life and come into the new. And yet, as we read about that way of life, portions of it make us uncomfortable, especially the beginning of this passage: “…and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common” (4:32). Immediately, we recoil as we shout, “That is Communism!” The truth is that Communism and this passage share only this one, passing connection, but such a connection is enough to turn us off entirely. We will read a different part of Scripture and forget that this part even exists.
When we come to such passages and are tempted to run away, to retreat to the comfortable parts of Scripture, I think we need to pause and ask ourselves what causes that impulse. Are the words too complicated for us, making us feel inadequate to understand the word of God? Does the passage recall unpleasant experiences in our lives, experiences about which we would rather not think? Is Scripture challenging us, calling us to live differently, in ways that we really do not want to live? Although we might not like to admit it, Scripture making us uncomfortable is part of its purpose. Consider Hebrews 4:12 which reads, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” That language of “piercing” is an excellent description of the discomfort-inducing quality of Scripture.
Returning to Acts, we see an explanation for why the early church adopted this attitude of no private possessions. The reason was to make sure that there should be no needy persons among the church. What the early church was showing as it submitted to the reign of God is that they serve a God of plenty, a God who gives freely to all. Furthermore, they were a people equal before God, such that possessions no longer were a symbol of status. Finally, as God had blessed certain individuals, he blessed them not so that they would hoard their blessings but so that they might share those blessings with others. God is not above using human agents to administer his blessings. In all of this, they lived in contradiction to the ways of the world, and their lives were a testimony to the God whom they serve. Hopefully, our lives take on the same character, especially as we let the uncomfortable parts of Scripture speak to us. -TL

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