The following is an extract from a blog (you can read the full text here). The opening describes a wonderful wedding where all aspects off the wedding were provided by the couples friends. Wonderful yes but not that unusual you might say. I agree but these thoughts that follow I believe really challenge us to think about the day to day practical meaning and cost of living the life described in Acts 4:32-35. So often when I read these verses I ask myself what would “everything in common” really look like today, I think this at least gives food for though in answering the question…
…You see, it’s now one week on and our shoulders are still aching from the lifting and carrying of chairs, drinks, tables and amps. The photographer is still selecting and touching up photos for their album (not that the beautiful couple need it, of course). And, I would wager, that most people involved have found themselves still sneaking the odd yawn or tired glance at the clock in the last few days to see if it’s bedtime yet.
Living in community sounds great! So Christians often look to Acts and aspire to the type of living that “shared and sold possessions to give to anyone in need” or “had everything in common”.
It sounds amazing, like a glimpse of heaven. Yet we often stop short. We blame the modern pace of life, or practical issues like work, family, the mortgage. We tell ourselves: “It’s a nice idea, but we probably need to re-contextualise it for a 21st century view of community”.
And yet, in reality, I wonder if it’s just too hard and we’re too scared to admit it.
When you share or sell possessions, you decide that those things you own aren’t yours anymore and you no longer own them. Skills and talents can be the same; they belong to everyone and are there to be shared. Being together means not being elsewhere – and that can be costly. It includes being present when you are together and not caught up in emails, social media or some other phone-based pursuit. Holding everything in common means letting go of some of your own pre-conceptions, firmly held ideas and ways of doing things. It also means taking time to listen, allowing others the chance to shape the direction of your community and help point to the future.
And so we read Acts, longingly wishing there was just a way we could get there, and perhaps secretly hoping we never have to. Saving ourselves from the hard work, late nights, tough conversations, aching shoulders – all the tough stuff really living in community might cost us.
So what do you think, does that help to make it real and are we willing to count and pay the cost?
The above is taken from a a multi author blog entitled “threads”
From the Zebra Bag 