Unity and the Elephant in the Room

“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul…” (Acts 4:32)

These were the words of Luke, as he described the Church that Christ birthed two thousand years ago. They were “of one heart and soul.” Doesn’t that sound beautiful? They walked in unity with one another. They loved one another. Yes, love and unity are inseparable. There can be no true unity without love, and wherever you find love, you will also find unity. As Paul said, “Love is the perfect bond of unity” (Colossians 3:14). Love is the glue that holds the body of Christ together, as one man, with one heart, and one soul.

My friend, is this what you want? Does your heart long to see the Church of Christ walking in unity? I think most would answer that question with a resounding, “Yes!” We have grown weary of looking around us and seeing a Church that is filled with selfishness and division. We yearn within ourselves for a Church overflowing with kindness and gentleness one to another – a Church that is known for its patience and forgiveness towards each other. Yes, if there is one thing we all seem to be unified on, it’s that we all claim to want unity within the body of Christ!

Yet somehow, despite nearly all Christians professing to have the same desire within themselves, we find ourselves, quite possibly, more divided than ever. How can this be? How is it that we all desire the same thing within the body of Christ, and yet we have failed to achieve it? Is it possible that we don’t want unity nearly as much as we think we do?

Maybe we should dig a little deeper into Luke’s descriptions of this early – unified – Church…

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42–47)

Then, as if Luke wasn’t satisfied with his first description, as if he was being compelled to drive the point home much further, he goes on to say this in Chapter 4:

“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” (Acts 4:32–35)

Now, I believe that if Luke describes them as being of “one heart and soul,” we can only assume that they were also filled with patience and forgiveness toward one another. We can only assume that there was an abundance of kindness and gentleness toward one another. We can only assume that they did not gossip about one another or deceive one another. We can only assume that they built each other up with encouraging words and prayer for one another. Surely, all of those qualities had to have also been present among this pure and beautiful Church he describes.

Yet, with all these beautiful and godly fruits that would have no doubt been present within a Church that is “of one heart and soul,” Luke mentions none of them. Instead, he devotes the majority of his description of this early Church to one particular defining characteristic – how they viewed their possessions – their stuff! Their money!

My friend, I believe that our Church today has an elephant in the room. There are four difficult words within this Book that no one wants to talk about: “ALL THINGS IN COMMON.” These four words represent the distinguishing mark of the New Testament Church that Christ Himself birthed, yet it’s as if they didn’t exist at all. In all my 25 years of walking with Christ, not once have I heard a message on those four words. Not once have I been compelled to measure the temperature of my own heart against the hearts of those believers in Acts 2 and 4. Oh, how we should hope that they are not the measuring stick for “lukewarm” hearts!

When I bring up these four words with most other believers, what do I get? Blank stares and confused faces. As if they weren’t even on the page. As if they were staring at a man who wants to start a “cult.” They say things like…

“Well, Mike, don’t you know that some things in the Bible are descriptive, not prescriptive? Don’t you know they weren’t commanded to sell all their possessions?”

“Mike, that’s not realistic in today’s world – in this Church.”

“Mike, this was one example. You can’t build a doctrine on one description of one Church in the Bible. That’s poor hermeneutics.”

To those who would say such things, I would answer thus:

Doesn’t the fact that they were not commanded to do these things and yet they did them anyway only further testify against us? Doesn’t that bring greater judgment upon us? It seems to me that it only further shows the true condition of their hearts, and ours!

You say, “It’s only one example,” but you are wrong. Approximately 20 –25 years later, as Paul is compelling the Corinthians to give generously, he describes the offering of the Macedonian Church as an example to the Corinthians. Here is what he says:

“or in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.” (2 Corinthians 8:2–4)

The Macedonian Church was going through a severe test of affliction and extreme poverty. And yet, with an abundance of joy, they were begging Paul to be able to give generously — beyond their means — to the saints at Jerusalem. It sure does sound to me like these Macedonians had the same types of hearts as those believers Luke describes.

My friend, I know these descriptions sound radical to many, but don’t they really just embody the commands that are on nearly every page of New Testament Scripture? Aren’t we just talking about love — laying down our lives for one another — considering others to be more important than ourselves? Is it possible that this radical way of living may be more prescriptive than we want to believe?

This way of living is not realistic for today’s Church for one simple reason — we don’t want it to be! We don’t want a version of Christianity that may involve us selling assets and emptying 401ks to help the family in our small group with their medical needs. We don’t want a Gospel that may involve us downsizing our homes, and burning our bucket-lists, so that we can give more to our local church. We don’t want a version of Christianity that may call us to step down from successful careers to devote all our time to serving the poor and the needy among us. We don’t want a version of Christianity that may actually require us to walk in… FAITH! Nah, we will leave these types of things to the radicals — the extreme ones. The ones who belong in a “cult.”

So, let us now get back to that beautiful word — UNITY! Do we want it? Really? Are we ready to deal with that elephant in the room? Let us not fool ourselves into thinking that there is some version of unity that does not involve us also laying down our “stuff” and picking up a cross. Let us not forget that unity with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ is a matter of the heart. It is a matter of our hearts being knit together with their hearts. As Luke said, they were “of one heart.” And as our great Master said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

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