A Disintegrating Church

Acts 5:1-11

Introduction

Every once in a while I get the urge to write a devotional on the most disturbing passages in the Bible. There are a number that could be included and one of them would be the story of Ananias and Sapphira. This is the story of a married couple in the church who sell their property but only give a portion to the church. As a result, God smites them dead. 

That’s a pretty simple message for us to apply to our current context. Just give the church all your money or die. Not a big problem.

Except none of us do this. Even if one of us sold our house a property and gave just a small percentage to the church, we would be happy and would not even consider praying for a smiting. Is this one of those passage that is an interesting but disturbing footnote and yet has no relevance for us? I don’t think so. This passage was preserved for us for a reason and we need to figure out what is going on.

Integrity in the Early Church

In some ways, this story begins in the last verses of the previous chapter. There we are told of how a man named Joseph, someone we know better as Barnabas, sold his property and gave it to the church. Barnabas went on to become one of the most influential leaders in the church and one of the first ministry partners of the Apostle Paul. That role is connected with what he did with his property but in the way you might think. It is not that he gave money and so the church felt obligated to reward him with a nice important position in the church. Rather what Barnabas did with his money said a lot about who he was as a man of God. When the church was looking for a person of integrity to go out and preach the gospel, Barnabas had already demonstrated what he valued in life. He was the right person for the job because of what he had already demonstrated.

This is where we need to make something clear if we are to truly understand the story of Ananias and Sapphira. The early Christians were not all commanded to sell their possessions. Jesus had asked that of some individuals but not all. Even in the early church, there were some who felt called to this but not everyone did. The New Testament often talks about being generous with what we have but that assumes that we have something to begin with. Most of the early church would not have felt obligated to liquidate their assets.

It looks as if Ananias and Sapphira noticed the reaction toward those with this radical generosity. People were very impressed with what Barnabas had done and it would be nice to grab a little of that respect for themselves.

So they sold their property and brought the money to the apostles. Well, most of it. They kept back a little bit. You know, a cushion, some money for a rainy day. They were allowed to do that because the money was theirs to give or keep. The problems was that they passed it off as if it was all of the money that they made from the sale. Being known as the family who gave only 75% would not do when Barnabas had already given 100%. They would only get 75% of the respect. So they lied and claimed that the money they gave was everything they received from the sale. But nothing remains hidden.

Peter confronts first Ananias and the Sapphira. But how did Peter know? It is unlikely that he investigated each donation. The impression that we are given is that God revealed this to Peter. But why would God care? With this huge universe, why would God care that one couple kept back a little of the sale of their property? It is not as if God needed the money.

This story actually has very little to do with money and has almost everything to do with integrity. Integrity is basically the property of being the same thing all the way through and not relying on surface appearance. This couple wanted the honour of being known from giving everything without the financial cost. They were not the same thing all the way through. They lacked integrity.

This was an important time in the church. Everything was being built from scratch. It had to be done right. It needed to be built on a foundation of integrity. The opposite of integration is disintegration and that is what happens when we lose integrity, we disintegrate. Ananias and Sapphira were doing more than just deceiving church leaders. By introducing a lack of integrity at that early stage of the church, they were attempting to deceive the Holy Spirit who knows us inside and out. 

We may think of the death of Ananias and Sapphira as rather harsh. But instead of sitting in judgment of God, we need to ask why he took that drastic step. It says something about the importance of integrity.

Integrity in the Modern Church

I don’t want you to come to this place in a spirit of fear. You should not live in dread as you put your offering in the plate or when you give online that God might punish you for not giving enough. That is not what this story is about. 

The message for back then is the same as for today. Do we have integrity? Are we the same thing all the way through?

Imagine you are wanting to decorate a room and you are looking for some nice wooden furniture. What would you be looking for? You might look to see if the piece is made from real wood or veneer. Veneer is a very thin slice of wood, only 1/8 “ on particle board. It looks nice on the surface but it is something different underneath. While veneer has its place (the desk I’m writing this on is veneer) but we do not want to be veneer Christians.

God is looking for Christians who are the same thing all the way through. Sadly we have had some prominent Christian leaders who looked very impressive and godly on the outside who were revealed to be something else underneath. While they were responsible for their own lack of integrity, the church is also complicit because of the fostering of Christian celebrity culture. We want Christians to idolize and we want them to look all nice and shiny on the outside, even if that means that we are only seeing the veneer.

You might be thinking that this sounds too hard. No one can be perfect. But it is not about being perfect, it is about letting the outside and inside match. Going back to Ananias and Sapphira, the problem was not that they didn’t give it all, it is that they wanted to look like they gave it all. They could have given half of the proceeds and told the apostles that they were giving half of the proceeds and everything would be fine.

It is ironic that it is at a time when we are required to wear masks that I’m warning you about hiding your true self behind a fake mask. But what if people don’t like who you are underneath? The truth is that I have more respect for people who are honest about their struggles than those who fool everyone with their success when down deep they are just a mess. A church is supposed to be a welcoming place that we accept each other with all our problems. This should be the last place in which you have to cover up the real with a thin veneer of falsehood.

Conclusion

There are still some things about the story of Ananias and Sapphira that make me uncomfortable. I’m thankful that I wasn’t one of the people to carry away their dead bodies. It is rather disturbing.

But we cannot let the principles pass us by. The story is about integrity, about being the same thing all the way through. It is not about being killed for not giving enough, it is about having the integrity to admit how much you really gave. 

This story is a challenge for everyone of us and that includes me. I fully understand that people may have expectations about what a pastor should be like. I may disappoint some and that’s okay. But my goal is to not pretend to be something that I am not. I want to grown in Christ and I want that growth to be at the same rate on the inside and the outside. There are enough veneer Christians in the church, we need to go back to solid wood.