There Were No Needy Persons Among Them

Acts 4:34
that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales

Acts 4:32-35
(32)All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. (33)With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all (34)that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales (35)and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

To be needy is to be in a bad place. To be needy is to be in need but be unable to afford that which you need. To be needy can safely be a synonym of poverty at a certain level depending on need. Yet the Bible tells us today that there was a community of people that had no needy person amongst them. There were no needy persons among them!

To be needy could be a misfortune created by government policies. It could be a result of unprecedented losses. It could as it many times has been a state of the mind. To be needy could be squarely a person’s own doing as in the case of drug abusers and gamblers. To be needy could be a result of what other people have done to you. To be needy could be a result of a combination of all factors. There were no needy persons among them!

Families would like to reach a point where there is no needy person amongst them. Neighbors would be glad if they could declare that there is no needy person among them. A community would have achieved something that is almost impossible if they can truly announce to the world that there is no needy person among them. Governments would be glad to say that there are no needy persons in their jurisdictions. Religious organizations would feel a huge sense of credibility if there would be no needy persons among them. There were no needy persons among them!

The group of people the Bible is telling us about is not a club that only admits the rich. In that case, there would be no news in announcing that there are no needy persons among them. The Bible is telling us about the early Christian church that was largely made of low-class citizens with no much education, Acts 4:13. The question therefore is, how did they make it to such an enviable level where there are no needy persons among them? How comes the present-day Christian church have so many needy persons? What happened to the formula that worked for this early church? There is a lot to learn from this early Christian church. There were no needy persons among them!

First, we are told they were so united and were as one so that what each one owned was the commonwealth. It was not an economic model that forced people to share resources. It was a faith in God and the power of the Holy Spirit that caused people to be one. Wealth and its trap that tends to make us hoard and want to have more than others was not their problem. Unity was not a slogan or church program, it was not even a campaign, it was the natural consequence of their faith in God and the power of the Holy Spirit. We will never achieve that unity through campaigns, programs, and slogans. There were no needy persons among them!

Secondly, they focused on the mission of the church, and that is to win more people into the faith. When we focus on a mission we have no time for sideshows. When we focus on mission, it does not matter who is of what tribe or race. What matters is who will get the job done. In the army during the war, even ranks do not matter, what matters is who will save the situation at the time when we are under fire. Rank will provide leadership but the actual work at hand defies race and tribe.

We focus on tribe and race in our ranks and positions because we aim to benefit ourselves using those positions. We ensure that every group is represented among those growing irregularly wealthy from organization resources. If the goal was just the work at hand, it wouldn’t matter who does it except the best who can do it.

You can’t insist to be among sharpshooters if you are not. It is not a position of power, wealth, and respect but of duty. Our wrangles for leadership show that we lost the focus long ago. If we must be keen on tribal and racial balancing, we have no mission at heart or insight. The early church was laser-focused on the mission and God poured out His grace and among the many results is that there was no needy person among them!

Thirdly, the text tells us that the grace of God was poured on the church as a result of their focus on the mission. The late Dr. Cornelius Matandiko while teaching us evangelism, told us what I have later on proved to be true, that God only performs miracles while you are in the active heat of evangelism and not when you are relaxed at home. God’s grace is powerfully poured only to those who are focused on the mission and busy on the mission. It is this grace of God that enabled the early Christian church to have no needy person among them. It was not a leadership achievement to be celebrated under a certain leader, it was God’s grace. There were no needy persons among them!

The grace of God in their hearts caused them to give tithes and offerings that were sufficient to serve everyone’s need. There was no promotion of giving. There was no week to emphasize our need to support God’s work. There was no special reading to encourage giving. There were no “powerful” preachers with moving sermons to cause people to give. All there was faith in God, the power of the Holy Spirit, focus on the mission, and God’s amazing grace. There were no needy persons among them!

The early church was never broke and therefore no one was needy among them. Our churches today are broken because of many reasons, one being stingy members who can’t support the very churches they worship in. They have the audacity to attend worship without making a contribution yet the place has electricity bills, water bills, etc. Unconverted members. Members without faith. Members without the Holy Spirit. Members who are not focused on the mission. Members who have not experienced God’s grace. Such members will need a lot of persuasion and preaching before they give and then backslide to selfishness again. With such members, a few will be rich and many will be needy and will never get assisted.

We have churches today who go out to issue food to the needy then take pictures and circulate, yet some among them lack food. Members who go to build a house for a poor person for purposes of reporting and news, yet among them are people without houses. Churches that distribute clothing to the needy elsewhere yet among them are needy people. Such churches will never ever give anything without a photo moment and capturing of a story to tell. The story glorifies them, and that is what they want. They lack God’s grace and that is why they can’t notice the needy amongst them.

Matthew 26:11 and Mark 14:7 tell us that Jesus said the poor will always be with us. The ever existence of the poor does not mean we leave them in need. The early church had many poor people but they provided for them and therefore no one was needy. Let us provide for the poor amongst us. There were no needy persons among them!

Dear God, do it for me and those with who I live, work, and worship. Give us faith. Give us the Holy Spirit. Give us a laser focus on the mission. Grant us Your amazing grace. Consequently, may there never be a needy person amongst us, in Jesus’ name, Amen!