The communal sharing in Acts 2 to 6 was a temporary accommodation. These people had come to Jerusalem from all over the world for Pentecost. It was one of three required visits for devout Jews, according to Mosaic law. They stayed much longer in the city than they had planned originally. The unexpected revival that resulted from the arrival of the Holy Spirit made them reluctant to leave. They wanted as much of the Apostles' teaching as they could get before they went back home (Acts 2:42).
The visitors' personal resources would have run out in the extended stay. Due to their new-found joy over their faith in the Resurrected Messiah, they willingly accommodated each other until they left. Thus, the sharing policy. So, it was not the Apostles (their "government") who commanded this group-pooling of goods; it was a spontaneous, grass-roots movement from the multitude themselves. (Acts 4:32)
Once they were back home, none of the apostles taught them to live communally as they had done after that Pentecost in Jerusalem. What they did command them was to work and be productive enough so that they had no lack as well as to have something to share privately with their neighbor who may have had need. (Eph. 4:28, 1 Thess. 4:11-12, 2 Thess. 3:10). There was no fixed amount to be paid by believers to church leadership to be redistributed. For them, then, they were to be industrious and generous. Commands for giving concerned private alms-giving, as Jesus says, "Let not your left hand know what your right hand does."
The only welfare group they were commanded to support as a church were the destitute believing widows (without families) over 60 years old who had good reputations among the believers (1 Tim. 5:3-10,16). |
