All the believers were together and had everything in common. (Acts 2:44)
Every church I have ever been a part of has had the concept of unity at its core. Unified is something that we strive to be. It is also something at which we don’t always succeed—cue our humanness. In my experience, I have had a lot of pain brought into my life “by the church.” I have a feeling many of us have or know someone who has had experiences like this one. During those moments, it has been very easy for me to point to the church as the source of my pain. But the thing is, churches are made of people, and we aren’t all perfect all the time.
As I read about the church in Acts, I am astounded sometimes by the way they interacted with each other. They were all together and had everything in common. From my experiences, this type of community seems like an impossible reality. But here we see it in action. I can imagine the early church as a people of different genders, races, and backgrounds and yet they existed together in unity. They put aside their differences and were united by the message of Christ.
What would it look like for us today to do something that isn’t all that radical? What will it take to be unified, having “everything in common”? It might be exactly what we’re made for.
Go lay aside your differences with someone today; be unified.
Callie Kemmerer is an alumnus of Kingswood University and currently serving at Stroudsburg Wesleyan Church in Pennsylvania. She leads the hospitality ministry and loves to see Jesus work through that ministry.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
