Occasionally, I hear people speaking as if the secret to the simple life was communal ownership, just like those first believers in Acts 2:44-45--or so they say.
"All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."I'm not so sure. And the apostles' response to deception and feigned generosity in Acts 5:3-5 suggests private ownership is good and right in its place.
But here's the thing: private ownership makes your life easier because you can genuinely say, "This thing is mine" (which, of course, cannot overturn Christ's claim on it, you, or the whole world, for that matter). But it also makes life harder, because you (or your kids) have to be generous with your things. And generosity is a harder thing to instil in our children than fairness.
[Tried to post this reply from iPad but it crashed].
ReplyDeleteThings possessed are possessed for the purpose of the other. I remember O'OD writing about this (in WOJ I think) and saying ownership is real because it allows the transition from mine to yours to actually occur. Which would put love at the root of generosity.
As I was writing this it also makes me think that because of an approach like this to ownership, there are ramifications for purchasing also. Purchasing must have this in mind - it would give us pause to think.
Ah yes! I'd forgotten about that little passage. I love the way that it both broadens the discussion about possessions, and recentres it on their social context (and love).
ReplyDeleteOften, I reckon, we get stuck between apparent poles of unattractive frugality and perversely -attractive gluttony/excess. We like monks in principle, but can't bear to live like them because we can't find a motivation sufficient for it. Love unravels the whole affair!
Thanks mate :)