At the very beginning of the church life recorded in the book of Acts, the saints were, no doubt, under the Holy Spirit’s move. On the day of Pentecost at least over three thousand saints were touched by the Lord to have everything in common. This was only practiced for a short time at the initiation of God’s New Testament economy; it did not continue for the long run as a practice of legality in the church life during Paul’s ministry, as proven by his words in 2 Corinthians 9 and other places. The practice to have all things in common could not go on too long because there are many practical things involved. Acts 6:1 shows us that the distribution of food among them became a problem. Even under the move of the Holy Spirit, to practice having everything in common was hard. The New Testament shows us that this way did not last very long. Eventually the “full moon” of having everything in common waned. In Acts 20:34 Paul told us that he worked to take care of his needs and to take care of the ones who were with him. If everything were still in common by that time, there would have been no need for Paul to work. This verse in Acts 20 shows that by that time having everything in common was over.
In 1943 there was a great revival in the church in Chefoo, my hometown in China. Over the course of a one-hundred-day period, everyone donated nearly everything he owned. Some saints dared not to look at anything in their home when they returned after the meeting. Whatever they looked at, there was the urge within to give it to the church. The saints’ offering of everything eventually became a big problem to us. Nearly all the possessions of the approximately eight hundred saints in the church in Chefoo were offered to the church. Then we wondered how all the saints were going to live.
I looked to the Lord very much and considered what to do. I realized that I and the church could not bear such a burden. It seemed that the best way was for the church to keep a small part of the offerings and return the rest to the saints, telling them that from now on they should not use anything for themselves. They must use everything for the Lord, but their possessions must still be in their hands and not in the church’s hands. It was through this offering that seventy saints, including husbands, wives, and children, were sent to inner Mongolia from Chefoo. The church supported them, giving them enough material supply to live in inner Mongolia for three months. These seventy were all sent at the same time on one boat. Another thirty were sent to the city of Antung in Manchuria with the church supplying their daily needs for three months.
Other Christian groups throughout the course of church history also tried to practice having everything in common, but no one has succeeded. What happened on the day of Pentecost with the believers having all things common was wonderful but temporary. We have seen that later Aquila had a job and Paul, a full-time worker, worked with him in the same trade. We must realize though that the principle of having all things common still remains. It does not remain in the way practiced in Acts 2 and 4, but in the way practiced by Paul in Acts and taught by him in his Epistles.
In 2 Corinthians 8:12-15 Paul says we must give willingly according to what we have. Those who gathered much will have no excess, and those who gathered little will have no lack. The result of such giving and receiving is what Paul calls “equality” (v. 14). Equality equals having everything common, but there are different means of practicing this.
There is an old proverb which says, “There has never been a rich family that has lasted for three generations.” Every rich man wants his riches to last forever, but God is sovereign to balance the social wealth. I have seen rich people whose grandchildren become poor and poor people whose grandchildren became rich. I have also seen rich Christians who loved the Lord in a sense, but they loved money more. Money was much greater and more important to them than God. They saved a lot of money for their grandchildren, but eventually all their grandchildren became poor mainly by squandering their riches nonsensically. It is hard to see a second generation among Christians who kept the riches of the first generation. God is sovereign to balance the social wealth.
If you want to make much money and retain it for your children and grandchildren, the end result will be a failure. The best way for us to train our children is to tell them that we only give them three kinds of assets: the Lord Jesus with His salvation, education, and morality. These are the only three things we should bequeath to our children. Let them inherit these three things. Concerning other things, it is best not to give them too much; otherwise, you will corrupt and damage them.
We must remember that God’s principle is to have equality. Even in the Old Testament there is the divine way to balance the social wealth. None of the Jews could sell their property forever. At the most, they could only sell it for fifty years. In the year of jubilee everything was returned to the original owner (Lev. 25:8-17). God’s way is to keep equality. In practice this is more practical than having everything common. Having everything common will cause many practical problems. The principle we keep is the principle of equality in 2 Corinthians 8. This is just like the receiving of manna in the Old Testament (Exo. 16:18). If you receive more, God will sovereignly arrange for you to have no excess. If you receive less, by God’s sovereignty you will have no lack. The manna that some of the children of Israel tried to save so they could have some excess “bred worms and stank” (Exo. 16:20). This is the principle of equality.
Some may feel that since God keeps equality and that we will never lack anything, that there is then no need for them to do any work. Paul, however charged the saints in Thessalonica that “if anyone does not want to work, neither let him eat” (2 Thes. 3:10b). A person should eat his own food (3:12) and should not be burdensome to others. This means that a person should go to work and not look to others to support him.