One Heart and Mind

Acts 4:32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

These verses just blow my mind! All believers...one heart and mind! No one claiming any possessions were their own...sharing everything they had! No needy persons among them!

Friends, we may look at our country and try to think of ourselves as a nation under God, but I think we’ve got to be honest here, these verses do not describe what I’ve seen or experienced in my lifetime. In fact, we are so far removed from this type of living it’s hard for me to even imagine what it would look like in real terms in this day and age.

I see need all around me. Everyday. And while I consider myself to be a fairly generous person, I know good and well I’ve never been this generous or seen anyone else be for that matter.

As I write this we are still in the worst of a pandemic that has been going on for a year now, where even the wearing of a face mask somehow became controversial.

The lack of effort, thought, intention or action for the common good has really saddened me this year, and made me feel pretty disillusioned.

Is this kind of living even something that we want for a goal anymore, or is it some kind of utopia that doesn’t and can’t exist? I don’t really know. But I admit this scripture feels almost like reading a fairy tale to me.

Too much focus has been on politics in recent times, so I don’t want to get into any of that. But clearly, this section of scripture does not describe the church of today. Should it? If so, what needs to change? What would it even look like to have this kind of unity of heart and mind, this kind of generosity and where no one was in need?

I wonder...

Ruth