Acts 4:32-36

Christians should have a righteous relationship with possessions.  Of all the relationships in a Christian’s life, the relationship with material things is one of the hardest to get right.  That is because we live in a world where unrighteous love for money is the norm. 1 Timothy 6:10 tells us that the love of money is the root of all manner of evil.  Love of money drives people to lie, steal, cheat and kill.  The world uses wealth as a measuring stick of success.  Society looks down upon the poor and considers them of lesser value than the rich.  Every new Christian who enters God’s kingdom does so after pressure from the world has already shaped their values.

New Christians must learn to think about material possessions in a new way.  First, Christians recognize that not all the wealth in the world could have bought them their salvation.  Our relationship with Jesus, keeps wealth from being worthless.  The early church in Jerusalem was quick to realize this, and they took the view that everything they had was his.  When they gave themselves to Jesus, they also gave ownership of all their possessions.  They understood the concept of stewardship; they would be responsible for managing everything on his behalf.  If there was a need in the Christian community, they used the possessions that God had entrusted to them to meet the need.  They did not give over the responsibility of stewardship to church leadership.  They did not sell everything to avoid the responsibility.  From time to time, when a special need would arise God would lead one of the wealthier members to raise funds by selling property.  If they had given all their possessions away, they would have had no resources in an emergency.

As Christians, all that we have belongs to God.  If God needs a truck to do a dirty job, we do not volunteer the uses of our new one.  We volunteer the uses of His new one that He has been letting us drive.