Some time ago, there was a group of Americans who eschewed tradition and not only called for an alternative lifestyle but sought to live this difference. Key among their new habits was communal living, which emphasised equality, sharing of resources, self-sufficiency, anti- war, anti-capitalism, and freedom of expression. They were mostly nature lovers, respected the environment, and many were gifted artists.
In one sense, they offered the perfect alternative to the culture of the day. But there was another side to the movement, popularly known as ‘hippies’. To maintain that lifestyle, many used mind-altering drugs. As I read and reflected on Today’s Holy Nougat, a part of me wonders if what the hippies actually sought was a true Pentecost experience … except they forgot to include God’s Spirit.
Acts 4:32 NIV
[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.
Unity in the Spirit
Doesn’t that sound a lot like what is portrayed as the hippie lifestyle to you? I even remember watching a programme once, where the hippies sang, ‘Kumbaya’. (Many today argue that the song Kumbaya has nothing to do with Jesus. But that’s a story for another day) Hippie movement aside, the lifestyle of the new converts to the Way, instigated by God’s Spirit, does suggest an embracing of egalitarian values.
Self-Check
How likely are we to share all we have with others so that everyone benefits?
Application
Perhaps it isn’t natural for us humans to be open-fisted. The hippies might have used drugs to be consistently communal. And later in Acts, we read that there were those who pretended to be sharing everything but weren’t. Total and extreme generosity, as evidenced by the first Spirit-led community, was exactly that: led by God’s Spirit. It was counter- cultural.
For imperial Rome, especially under Pax Romana, equality was absolutely not the order of the day. Theirs was a wholly stratified society. There were firstly, citizens and non-citizens. Among the citizenry, there were the patricians, plebians, freedmen, and slaves. Women were rarely accorded citizenship for themselves, as their status was tied to the men in their lives.
With those varying levels of social status, it is hard to imagine the saints genuinely embrace an ethos of egalitarianism. Yet, led by God’s Spirit, they did exactly that. One might see this as the fulfilment of Y’shua’s prophetic declaration over Peter, ‘… on this rock [of unwavering belief], I [Y’shua] will build my ekklésia.
[Many exegetes (scholars who painstakingly unpack the Bible into plainer language) insist that the ekklésia is more about governance than liturgical framing. It is a group of citizens, specifically called out to fulfill a mission. This is what the Greek conveys, rather than what we transliterate as church, namely, kyriakos, which literally means ‘belonging to the Lord’]
The unity displayed, therefore, told a story to the world. Their unity said they were the called out ones, who, led by God’s Spirit, were open to egalitarian lifestyles. They formed alternate communities (the root of which is ‘commune’), sharing and caring. As far as we’re aware, there weren’t any hallucinogens, only God’s Spirit.
We are that ekklésia. And one sign of our status is our unity. Could we, led by God’s Spirit, be as intentional in demonstrating equality and unity as an alternative to the stratification our societies embrace?
Point to Ponder
Can God demonstrate a similar unity among us today? How so?
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May all we seek be found in Christ
