All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need (Acts 4:32-35, NIV).
When he was a “Jesus Freak” in the 1970’s, my dad, Joseph Esposito practiced this simple way of “being” in his daily life. Even though every day looked different, Esposito’s days consisted of a routine. He woke up to go about a quarter mile up the hill where the commune was settled to join his friends. They would start their morning with prayer and bible study followed by breakfast, and then he would help tend their garden and green house for the rest of the day, with a break for lunch and dinner. Most of the men worked off the land with odd jobs- they were plumbers, carpenters, and tree planters. The women took on the chores of the land but with Joe’s knowledge of gardening, he was allowed to work with the women in the garden. Every night, they would gather together for communal worship and bible study, except for Saturday, which was a free day. On Sunday, they would simply have church in the morning and have the rest of the day free except for those who helped with cooking and chores. The community consisted of between 100 and 150 people, who shared possessions and their lives. “Discovering our new found faith and taking the bible as our only map for living in Christian community was the focus of our lives,” Esposito says. “I had some of the richest, simplest experiences with God and with people than I ever would again.” This lifestyle offered people community in hyperbolic form, through constant interpersonal interaction and interaction with nature. It was a place evangelicals could practice discipline and experience vibrant religious existence together.
The believers in the early church did practice these principles of sharing and communal faith, and it even though it was revolutionary in that time, everyone in the early church practiced this way of being. Why can’t the Church live up to this precedent today? It’s only manifests itself in Christian counterculture movements like the aforementioned Jesus Freaks or the New Monastics of today. Why must these movements be counterculture to modern day Christianity? There is a clear focus on Christian community in the New Testament, and it is not emulated in every day Christian walks. I’m not innocent of this either. Even though my dad was a Jesus Freak, my parents became more autonomous from Christian community in the 1980s and 90’s, becoming focused on the individual lives of our family. I’ve grown up in a 3-story suburban home which is located in threshold of materialism- Northern Virginia. My parents still engage in letting go of their possessions- a few years ago, when our friends needed a car, they willingly gave them their minivan for free. Yet this is one of the only big expressions of sharing possessions that I can remember from growing up in a Christian home.
I do not want to point fingers at anyone or even claim any righteousness on my own- I am the first to admit I hate to share and I am very stingy with my money and prefer to spend a lot of time by myself. But I feel that American Christian society lacks this culture of community and sharing which the believers in Acts 4 possessed. Revolutionary movements like New Monasticism might help, but if it only remains a subculture movement, the common communal practices of the early church will not manifest itself back into society. What a world look like where there are no needy persons among us? We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves but we do not live up to our God-given potential to be in true devoted community with one another. We need not to grip so tightly onto to our money- we are mostly blessed and privileged people just to live in this country. We must release our money and share it with our neighbors, whether they live down the street in a shabby apartment with no heat or across the world in a slum.
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