Give out a thought:
The common purse of the Twelve only magnified after Pentecost, resulting in sweeping economic sharing in the early church. As the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples and increased their numbers, the new order of the kingdom effectively dismantled the walls between the privileged and the underprivileged, the powerful and the powerless, and the haves and the have-nots in the community. Luke reported several times in the book of Acts how the Spirit-led followers of Jesus “had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, gave to anyone as he had need” (Acts 2:44-45). And again, “all the believers were in one heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had” (Acts 4:32). Though hard to imagine today with our highly individualistic mind-set, this economic arrangement among them seemed only natural in the early church in light of the gospel. The experience of fellowshipping with the risen Jesus (1 Cor 15:5-8) and the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-47) registered such an impact upon the first generation of believers that economic sharing – the spirit of Jubilee justice – defined their relationships.
(Sider, Gordon, Perkins, Tizon)
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