Cultural Christians in the Early Church Slow Read, Week 2: Chapter 1
Cultural sins involving money and property
Impressive gold coins, like this one, minted by Emperor Nero (ruled 54-68 AD) with an emperor’s visage on one side, served in the ancient world to remind something obvious, as Jesus had noted earlier: render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Such coins are also a reminder that no one looks good on money. It’s not just a Nero problem, I assure you.
On a side note, by the way, if you ever want a beach read-type book about what Roman money could do and how far it could travel, I recommend Alberto Angela’s book The Reach of Rome: A Journey Through the Lands of an Ancient Empire, Following a Coin. He’s a bit sensationalizing, and at times takes obvious liberties with the evidence, but overall, it is quite good.
So, back to the basics: render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Devastatingly simple, right? Except, this important philosophy of property requires coming to terms with the most obvious complicating factor—us. Everyone should regularly spend time with toddlers to be reminded of it: have you noticed how one of the earliest words toddlers learn (and love) to use is “mine”?
And so, in this week’s discussion of chapter 1, we turn to cultural sins related to money and property, with Ananias and Sapphira as our main test case. They were much more sophisticated than toddlers, but (I show in this chapter) they allowed both Jewish and Greco-Roman cultural ideas about how to use property to guide their decision.
Here are some questions to walk you through the chapter:
1. What is the significance of the conversion of Joseph/Barnabas, whose story we learn in Acts 4:36-37, to Christianity?
2. What did Ananias and Sapphira do, and what were their culturally inspired motivations?
3. What is the connection of the story of Ananias and Sapphira to the Old Testament story of Achan in Joshua 7?
4. What was the reaction of the witnesses to what happened to Ananias and Sapphira? How do you think you would have reacted, had you seen what happened to them?
5. What are some examples of counter-cultural giving that you have seen at your church or have experienced in your life, whether on the giving or the receiving end?
Really, this final question is probably the most important to keep in mind and think about. Whenever we think about how sinful people can be, this should not be our final stopping point. We should pursue sanctification in community both within the local church and while cultivating our connection to Christians beyond our immediate community as well.
I found it interesting that one point in my book to which Drew Dickerson objected in his very kind review last weekend in The Gospel Coalition involved something in this very chapter: I suggested that we think about taxes differently than we do now. I know that this is a controversial idea, and the current system is far from perfect. And yet, I think about the world of the Roman Empire, where there were no real safety nets for those in distress (a theme to which we’ll come back over and over), and I wonder: how might we, believers today, be safety nets to our neighbors, like the earliest Christians were to their neighbors in a world that did not value people as persons?
The image of a safety net, indeed, seems appropriate for a people who are called to be fishers of men. Ours are not fishing nets! A safety net, the opportunity to serve those in distress and otherwise failed by this world, is the net that Jesus’s fishers have used from the earliest days, even while struggling, just as Ananias and Sapphira did, with the call to think of their treasures as not their own to hoard and possess.
Zoom book event: Conference on Faith and History virtual coffee
If you’re free this coming Thursday (March 14) at 1pm ET, I’m excited to get to talk on Zoom about Cultural Christians in the Early Church with John Wilsey, a scholar whose work I greatly appreciate and whom Dan and I consider a dear family friend. Full details and link to the Zoom event here. No registration required.