This blog is one in a series of reflections on chapters in the book Called to Community.

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Fridays at the farmer’s market were a unique joy because it was the only day that the local, hippie, cult came to sell their fresh baked bread. I loved this for two reasons: I thoroughly enjoy engaging people of various beliefs and creeds. Second, the bread was the absolute best. Over time, I grew more and more acquainted with this little band of followers. They were small, but took their teaching from Scripture. They all received new names and lived in a commune where simple living and shared possessions were the norm. I still have a lot of their literature and it is littered with pictures of people holding hands and running in a circle.

 

I love that.

 

You may not be surprised to learn that much of their lifestyle is mirrored after the passages in Acts that discuss sharing and inclusion in the inaugural days of the Church. Now I have sat in many American pews and heard pastors squirm subtly or wax eloquently over why the shared life of the early Church is not anything Jesus would want us to adhere to today. I confess to my readers that I don’t completely disagree with the claim that what happened from Pentecost to Solomon’s Porch was a unique product of a unique time. I am, however, also slow to accept any teaching that says we should dismiss these practices outright.