Desacralizing Money by Using It to Support Christ’s Alternative Society (Acts 2, 4)

 ⁴⁴ All the believers continued together in close fellowship and shared their belongings with one another. ⁴⁵ They would sell their property and possessions, and distribute the money among all, according to what each one needed (Acts 2:44-45, Good News Translation, here and following).

Possessions Bind Us to Pluto (Luke 18:18-25)

Today a certain ruler asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life (Luke 18:18-25). For now, let us define eternal life as an unconditional companionship with Jesus which survives our death.

Jesus starts with the basics: You know the commandments. Today’s embarrassing truth: Jesus could not assume we Christians know these basics. To refresh our memories, these are the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17): (1) no other gods, (2) no idols, (3) no misuse of the name of Yahweh, (4) keep the Sabbath, (5) honor father and mother, (6) no murder, (7) no adultery, (8) no stealing, (9) no false witness, and (10) no coveting (wanting what others have). Let us note that the first four commandments concern our relationship with Yahweh; the second six, our relationships with our neighbors.