Don't fake it till you make it

 This week's verses are Acts 5:1-11:

Now a man named Ananias, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property. He kept back for himself part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge; he brought only part of it and placed it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of the land? Before it was sold, did it not belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God!”

When Ananias heard these words he collapsed and died, and great fear gripped all who heard about it. So the young men came, wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, but she did not know what had happened. Peter said to her, “Tell me, were the two of you paid this amount for the land?” Sapphira said, “Yes, that much.” Peter then told her, “Why have you agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!” At once she collapsed at his feet and died. So when the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear gripped the whole church and all who heard about these things.

  These verses are often given in order to provoke people to be more generous with the church. But they're really about a different kind of selfishness. Ananias and his wife Sapphira could have been more generous. But is that the real issue? Peter tells them explicitly that they would have been fine keeping the property, and that they would have been fine keeping the money if they sold it. They didn't have to give anything, if they didn't want to. So what is going on?

To figure it out, we have to look at what was happening in the church at the time. People were pooling their resources with the Christian community by selling everything they had and making public declarations that they were now dependent on each other. "Look, I'm going to take care of your needs, but you'll need to take care of me too, because this is my last penny I am giving." It's hard for me to imagine how much people must have cared for each other, if they were doing that.

We can see, from what Peter said, that people were in no way pressured to give. When someone reached a point where they cared for others more than they did for themselves, they did what they had to do. Like Jesus, they gave everything in order to bless others. And then they were completely vulnerable, because they had given away all of their financial strength and protection.

Compare that with what Ananias and Sapphira did. Chances are they probably saw what the others were doing. Maybe they wanted the recognition that came with a public display of devotion, without taking the full risk that it represented. Or maybe they wanted to be taken care of by the community as though they were penniless, while keeping a little something for themselves? We don't know, and we can't know.

Another possibility is that the Holy Spirit told them to do it, and this was them going through the motions while not really obeying. Remember Jesus and the rich young man? "Sell my house?? How about I just make a big tax deductible donation and buy a smaller condo? That's similar enough, right?"

But none of these reasons would result in them being punished simply for not giving "enough" to the church. They were free to give nothing, and they were free to not make this sacrifice at all. What they seem to be being punished for instead is for putting on a religious show of devotion without really being devoted.

The penalty is death and public humiliation. Imagine going up in front of your church, your family and friends, expecting to be recognized for your giving, and instead being exposed as a fraud and subjected to the judgment and wrath of God himself! How horrible! The rest of the church was justifiably terrified when they saw what happened.

And why shouldn't they have been? Have you ever seen anyone drop dead in church? Especially two people, at separate times, for the same thing! We are so warmed by grace that we forget the righteousness of God. But there was probably also the fear of God because of the reminder that he can see our hearts.

God knows when we're lying. When we say we're giving our all, and we're not, or when we say we're 100% devoted, and we're not, it's like entering a marriage with a mistress on the side. You're going to be found out, and when you are, there will be hell to pay.

Ananias and Sapphira performed this beautiful drama on stage where they said their vows to give all they had, but God knew they were lying. They didn't love him as much as they wanted everyone to think. They didn't love his church as much either. They loved themselves, ultimately, no matter what their original reason was for holding back.

Do we hold back? Do we wear the invisible ring of devotion while keeping a little something happening on the side? Do we tell ourselves, or others, "this is everything," when it is not everything? Do we pretend to be vulnerable, while making sure secretly that we are protected? If so, we're a bit like Ananias and Sapphira. That's terrifying.

I think what God wants from us is authenticity. If we're all in, we should be all in. If we're afraid, or selfish, or unwilling to share, we should openly be those things. How else will people know where we are spiritually? Lying about it just causes others to lie in order to keep up. If one athlete uses steroids, pretty soon they all do in order to stay in the race. It's the yeast of the Pharisees, spreading through the church.

Ananias and Sapphira were made to be examples, because fake devotion is deadly to real devotion. Once word gets out that you can get all of the reward for a discount price, everyone will do what is cheap. We're meant to faithfully imitate a God who gave himself entirely so that we could have what we need. When we fake that, we are darkness pretending to be an angel of light. Who does that sound like?

If you're not willing to go all the way, then don't go all the way. Be up front about that. If you're not willing to give more than half, then make that clear. But don't pretend like you're giving all you can give, or that your heart is 100% devoted to God, if that is not the case. God's grace is enough to cover you in the gap, if you're willing to be honest about it. But if you lie, you're doing the devil's work.

If you're going to make a vow of devotion, make a true vow. Don't fake it till you make it.