No needy persons among them

Acts 4:32-35 (TNIV) -

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.

My thoughts -

I was speaking to a friend last night who proclaimed that if the church did it's job the government wouldn't have to care for the needs of the poor. I'm not sure I completely agree with that. I'm not sure our churches have the resources to do that and I'm not sure that, even if they did, that would get the government off the hook in caring for the needs of its citizens.

That said, if our churches acted like the early church here we'd stand a chance. The church wants to have a prophetic voice. The church wants to speak on issues of cultural sin. We seem to have a special interest in sexual matters. But our we doing our job? Are we caring for the needy? Are we being the hands and feet of Jesus or merely the mouth of conservatism?

At our best I'd say we genuinely care for the souls of people. But do we care for the body? Can we separate the two?