This excerpt from The NIV Application Commentary on the Bible explains the original meaning of Acts 4:32-35, describing what Luke meant when he talked about believers being one in heart and mind. Then, it provides ways to apply the passage to your life today.
We start with words from Luke:
Acts 4:32-35 (NIV)
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.
Original Meaning
For a second time Luke describes the quality of the radical sharing that the first Christian community practiced (see 2:44–45). This time he describes it in greater detail. The fact that he mentions this issue twice suggests we should regard it with some importance.
Luke first presents what was at the heart of the practice of sharing — a deep unity (v. 32a). In the Gospels the disciples often quarreled among each other and had to be corrected by Jesus (Luke 9:46–47; 22:24–27), but in Acts the Twelve are a unified group (2:14; 5:29; 6:2–4), and this unity now spreads to the entire church. This is often the case that when the leaders are united; it helps the members to be united too.
Spiritual Unity
“One in heart and mind” (kardia kai psychē mia) describes a comprehensive unity (v. 32). What joined them was not simply a common affiliation to the church. There was a spiritual unity and a unity of passionate commitment to a mission. Therefore, right in the middle of this description of unity we find the witness of the apostles (v. 33). Community life is never an end in itself; a vibrant community is a community in mission.
Included in this unity was the sharing of possessions among the believers. They did not consider their possessions as their own (v. 32b). This sharing extended to material possessions. As a result, “there were no needy persons among them” (v. 34a). But for that to happen, some costly sacrifices had to be made by some believers who sold their lands and houses (vv. 34b–35).
Christian Communism?
This practice of selling land and giving it to the church has been called Christian communism. But it is different to communism in two ways. First, it was an entirely voluntary renunciation of wealth. Unlike communism and the Qumran community of the first century, the sharing of property was not legislated.
Second, private ownership continued in the church. Acts 12:12 mentions the house of Mary the mother of John Mark. Earlier we were told that people met in each other’s homes for meals (2:46). Thus, what is mentioned here is not a renunciation of all private property by everyone in the church.
There are five verbs in the imperfect tense in 4:34–35. The imperfect describes continuous action in the past. In other words, this selling of land is something that took place regularly. The NIV rendering (“from time to time”) attempts to express this idea (v. 34). In other words, whenever there was a need, those who owned land asked themselves whether the Lord wanted them to sell this land. Some did and then gave the proceeds to the leaders to distribute wherever there was a need.
These were probably not easy decisions to make. But some did make them, and the result was the elimination of poverty in the church.
Application
While being one in heart and mind is considered the usual model for Christian community life, it is not easy to maintain in today’s individualistic society. We do not like having anyone pry into our personal lives, which would be necessary if the model shown in Acts were to be followed.
For this reason, many have lowered their standards and settled for a functional unity that comes more from secular management studies than from God’s word. People agree to work according to a plan, even though they may not be “one in heart and mind” with it.
But can we jettison this biblical model so easily? Given the fact that there are so many commands to this model of unity, we should not be satisfied by lowering our standards.
Acts Demands a Countercultural Church
This is an area where the church needs to be countercultural. In a society where people deny the community orientation that is part of human nature in order to protect their privacy, close Christian community life may be one of the most important prophetic messages we can give the world.
No one can deny one’s essential humanity without sooner or later feeling a void inside. The church must present itself as the group that can adequately fill this thirst for community in the heart of the human being.
The NIV Application Commentary
The NIV Application Commentary on the Bible is a masterful blend of content written by today’s top academics in a way that is compelling and easy to understand for anyone — no formal training or seminary degree required. This one-volume commentary is intended both for personal study and for teaching preparation.
Concise commentary and background help the reader understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context. Clear explanations make it easy to understand matters related to grammar and the meaning of biblical words.
While most commentaries stop there, the unique format of The NIV Application Commentary on the Bible provides a bridge from the world of the Bible to our lives today, guiding the reader to powerfully apply the biblical message to contemporary situations, problems, and questions.
The NIV Application Commentary on the Bible is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.
Ajith Fernando (ThM, DD) is teaching director of Youth for Christ, Sri Lanka, a ministry he led for 35 years. In addition to teaching and preaching, he spends his time mentoring and counseling younger Christian leaders and pastors.
Christopher A. Beetham (PhD, Wheaton College) is senior editor of biblical languages, textbooks, and reference tools at Zondervan. He is the author of Echoes of Scripture in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians and Colossians and Philemon and abridging editor of The Concise New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis.
