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SearchCommunity Based on Faulty Principles Fails
Unmistakably, a new fellowship was arising in the world. ―The multitude who believed
continued steadfastly in the apostles‘ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in
prayers.‖ They called each other brother and sister; they greeted one another with a holy kiss;
they ministered to the poor. It was a fellowship of living as well as of worship. They were not
communal by decree but by the desire to share their goods with their fellow believers. They
confidently expected that Jesus would return to complete the establishment of the Father‘s
kingdom during their generation. This spontaneous sharing of earthly possessions was not a
direct feature of Jesus‘ teaching; it came about because these men and women so sincerely and
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so confidently believed that he was to return any day to finish his work and to consummate the
kingdom. But the final results of this well-meant experiment in thoughtless brotherly love were
disastrous and sorrow-breeding. Thousands of earnest believers sold their property and disposed
of all their capital goods and other productive assets. With the passing of time, the dwindling
resources of Christian ―equal-sharing‖ came to an end — but the world did not. Very soon the
believers at Antioch were taking up a collection to keep their fellow believers at Jerusalem from
starving.