sHaRiNg aLl tHiNgS ?!!!

"The whole fellowship of believers were united as one—one heart, one mind! They didn't even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, "That's mine; you can't have it." They shared everything. The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Master Jesus, and grace was on all of them.
And so it turned out that not a person among them was needy. Those who owned fields or houses sold them and brought the price of the sale to the apostles and made an offering of it. The apostles then distributed it according to each person's need."
(Acts 4:32-35)

I’ve been meditating on this passage lately… What a powerful community “The Way” was… That’s how the first Christians were called : “The Way”, and I think it was not only because they were following Jesus, but because people realized that they had found the way to live life together … independently of the Roman Empire that opressed them and was not just especially to the poorest.  
What powerful values we find in this passage!!! No one would say that their things were only theirs…Wow, how many of us are able to say this ?!!! (or actually practice it )


It excites me a lot the live in community…I’ve been asked and I’ve been questioning myself what kind of community I want to be part of…
Well, Jesus is my role and master, so I definitely want to be modelled by Him and His values…
There’s also lot of good stuff I’ve been learning with many people and many movements I met on my way, christians and not … mostly with rainbow people which I’m most familiar with… but I often realize that they simply practice many of the values Jesus spoke about…

It’s not easy to live in community, that’s a fact I realized long time ago… But still, there’s a natural attraction to it (I guess for everyone in some way)… Can it be that that is because God created us to live in community?!! I believe so…
But the world tells us a total different thing… we grow up (at least in the “western countries”) hearing that we need to be independent, and our freedom is above anything and anyone… we need to "fight" for ourselves to “survive”… our system is leading us more and more into individual, selfish and lonely lives, and a lot of people are not even aware of it… it’s even a shame if we need to ask others for help, or simply for something we need…
It’s much easier actually to be independent… but soon people will realize they are alone… they build their kingdom, but they don’t have anyone to share it with… it stops being fun … they feel empty…because something is missing : the others !!!


And that’s exactly what community should be all about : Sharing with others !!! Even though I agree that we will never know fully what that is all about unless we start living it, experiencing it and learning along the way… But I believe (and this is just my opinion) that one of the basic values for a community to function powerfully is to share all things with everyone… well, that needs trust as well … and requires responsible people, as I´ve also seen that attracting people who just want to take advantage of the generous ones...
Lack of trust comes from fear, and with fear there’s lack of Love…
The foundation of a community life should be Love above all things of course .
we need to realize is not about our own kingdom, but about God’s… It’s not about our own needs, but others’… It’s not about our own interests, but the interests of those with whom we live and the ones around us…
It needs to start with humility and total surrender of each one to the Bigness and to each other…

The first followers of Jesus had the key to end poverty , a theme so much spoken these days… there were no division of classes anymore… no more rich and poor… they would all work for the kingdom in behalf of their communities and all the society around them… there seemed to be equality of genders too and a universalism where there was no "jew or greek"... "Christ was all and was in all"
I don’t think they would only feed the poor, but they would invite them to be part of their communities, their families, their homes… it's a very different approach isn't it?

I also thought of what Jesus spoke when he said that it would be harder for the rich to enter God’s Kingdom… I don’t think Jesus were referring to their wealth as the problem, but because He knew how hard it is for a rich person to give up their own kingdom and share it with others… and that means giving it all to have the same as everybody else in the community…It’s much easier, if we think on this terms, for someone who is poor to join a community where everyone shares everything, and ending up having the same as the rich guy he used to beg from…
That’s revolutionary !!!


I share this many times, but for me is simply amazing in a rainbow gathering where we have a “magic hat” that goes around after every meal and people give whatever they have… some put a lot of money, some just a little, others put nothing and many times we see people putting “kisses” or laying their hands in their hearts and “put it in the hat”… That’s really touching… But the amazing thing is that there is always money to buy food for everyone… and I’m speaking about gatherings that can go from 50 to 3000 people for a whole month…
the needs are announced, the musicians start playing happy songs and the children often love to go with the “magic hat” around the circle…
“and the more that I give,
the more I have to give,
that’s the way that I live,
that’s what I’m living for”
(that’s one of the “magic hat” songs)…

I picture the first Christians being more like that !!!!
Sharing with joy !!! Not only their lives, but also their things, their gifts, their work, their skills, etc…

The question is :
It worked then, how can it work now ?!!!