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).
32 The
group of believers was one in mind and heart. None of them said that any of
their belongings were their own, but they all shared with one another
everything they had. 33 With
great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and God poured rich blessings on them all.34 There was
no one in the group who was in need. Those who owned fields or houses would
sell them, bring the money received from the sale, 35 and turn it over to the apostles; and the
money was distributed according to the needs of the people (Acts 4:32-35).
In his parable about a rich fool (Luke 12:13-21), Jesus warns us against
“every kind of greed; because
your true life is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may
be” (v. 15). Our Olympian
personality demonstrates its devotion to Pluto, god of money, when we hoard our
wealth. My precious! We witness to Bacchus, god of consumption, when, like that
same rich fool, we squander our wealth on sensate pleasures (v. 19).
Jesus doesn’t
want us thinking primarily about how to make or save money. Nor does he want us
dreaming primarily about how to squander it on self-indulgence. Instead, he
daily shares his light, love, and life with us. He then invites us to think and
imagine with him how to share these with others—especially with the other
participants in our church (Luke 12:31).
In his
conversation with a rich ruler (Luke 18:18-25), Jesus reveals to us how
our possessions come to possess us. The more we have, the stronger our Olympian
devotion to Pluto grows. The stronger that grows, the weaker our Christian personality becomes.
In today’s
readings from the book of Acts (2:44-45, 4:32-35), we learn what happens when
our Christian personalities are stronger than our Olympian ones. We learn what
happens when the Holy Spirit is more active in our churches than the Unholy Spirit of Pluto and Bacchus.
Through our
Olympian society and culture, Pluto teaches us that money is more important
than relationships. In Pluto’s eyes, relationships are based on usefulness. If
our relationships with others help us to make money, great! If they start to
cost us money, forget it.
Pluto also
teaches us that the money we earn is ours to do with as we please. He
prefers that we save it. If we do spend it, he prefers that we spend it on
products, like gold or rare paintings, that will appreciate in value over time.
That way we may sell them in the future for more money than we spent to buy
them.
Bacchus also
teaches us that if we have money, then it is ours to do with as we please. We
please him most, however, when we squander our money on self-indulgence.
Through the
witness of Luke and Acts, we learn that Jesus doesn’t think that way at all.
Jesus doesn’t have us hoarding money or squandering it in self-centered ways.
He doesn’t have us preoccupied with it either way. He certainly doesn’t think
of coins or possessions as neutral objects but as means by which Pluto and
Bacchus worm their ways into our Olympian hearts.
Jesus has us thinking
and imagining ways we may increase the vitality of our congregation. This
includes the vitality of each individual member as well as the vitality of the
congregation as an organized social group. Each day Jesus invites us to think
and imagine ways that we may increase the vitality of our witness to him
whether separately as individual Christians or together as church.
Which ways are
best cannot be defined by a moral code and reduced to conformity to it. We
cannot demand of rich members of a church that they donate all money in excess
of, say, $100,000 to the church for the benefit of other members in need.
We may expect,
however, that the Holy Spirit, burning brightly in their Christian hearts, will free them
from the need to hoard or squander that money or regard themselves as superior
to others because of it. We may be confident that Jesus will speak to them of
many surprising and creative ways that they may use it to strengthen the
vitality of his church.
At the same time, we must alter our understanding of
church. Right now it means one organized social group amongst many in our
society. As such, it usually has a large building and a paid staff that
organizes volunteers to provide programs of interest to its members. Members
generally participate in the core program of Sunday worship. Sometimes they
join weekly Bible studies. Occasionally they volunteer to staff programs.
Members donate money to pay for buildings, staff, and programs.
This is not how Jesus sees church. American society and
culture, like all other societies and cultures of the world, is Olympian. Jesus
understands his church as an alternative society and culture. He intends it to
be the clearest witness to the Kingdom of Heaven—his alternative
society and culture—here on Earth.
So the church is not one organized social group amongst
many in which we participate in the context of American society and culture. It
is the alternative society and culture of freedom, truth, love, and vitality
which we provisionally represent as we interact with others in their chaotic contexts. The
church which Jesus asks us to support with the means we have is that
alternative society rather than the organized social groups, churches or otherwise, that have made
themselves so much at home in our Olympian society.
Copyright © 2015 by Steven Farsaci.
All rights reserved. Fair use encouraged.
All rights reserved. Fair use encouraged.
