Jesus was Always a Capitalist

      I fear the "Church", especially the modern "Church" has badly missed the Jewish Doctrine behind Joses' gift to the early Church at Jerusalem from the sale of his land. God NEVER asked all the Church members at Jerusalem to sell their land, nothing of the sort. Look carefully at what happened: "And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, 37 Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet." Acts 4:36-37
       Joses (Barnabas) was a Levite. He was not supposed to own land to begin with. He was supposed to serve the Congregation free of charge, and the Congregation by Jewish Law was obligated to provide his housing and daily need so he was free for his "Priestly" duties. He felt guilty for the land he owned and sold it to offer as an offering. The rest of the Church was NEVER under obligation to do the same. Ananias and Sapphira
Acts 5:1 had no reason except Pride and the Power they thought they could gain in the Church through their vain and corrupt lie of giving all. They saw Barnabas being patted on the back and cheered and they wanted that Glory for themselves, the same old sin that did Satan in. They were not rebuked for not giving all, they had no obligation to do so, they were rebuked for lying to the Church and thereby lying to God Himself.
       "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.  Acts 5:3-4
       No, The Church at Jerusalem was not a commune, it was not very much different from The Congregation in the wilderness Temple, not Socialist at all, more of an extended family like our Church Fellowship dinners today. They were certainly never intended of God to wallow and fester there in commune style. God didn't let this Fellowship stagnate long. He allowed Satan to persecute the group so they could be scattered abroad as the whole Scriptural context of Acts is intended to explain. The KEY Verse vs. 1:8 of Acts clearly told the Church to spread the Gospel not start a commune.       "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8
      When the Church began to get comfortable with its fried chicken fellowships and began to forget its mission to the lost, God used Satan by allowing him to persecute and break up the big congregation. Fearing for their lives the ran to hide in other communities, and took the Gospel message with them as had always been God's plan.
      I chuckle to myself in exasperation every time I hear a liberal try to make God's plan for the Church a Socialist one. How foolish! Jesus as Creator was a Capitalist right from the start. Jesus Himself, plowed, sowed and planted the first garden. He gave it to the first man and his family to sharecrop, till, and tend. They brought Him their Firstfruits. Later Jesus trained the first Carpenters, Craftsmen, metal workers, the first Jewelers, even the first plumbers. It is all there in the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit gifted and trained artisans to do the elaborate tapestries, the detailed engravings and carvings to decorate the Temple. God trained man in how to plow a furrow, care for and plant seed, weave fabrics, groom sheep and cattle it is all there in Scripture.      Jesus later in the New Testament paints a picture of His second coming to judge how well believers have done the work of spreading the Gospel and bringing in the sheaves of Spiritual Harvest:
And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? Luke 19:22-23
      Funny word for a Socialist to use isn't it, usury? Jewish law did not prohibit banking or lending of money. It did say not to require interest from your Brother, but also said that it was allowed to charge a stranger. Again this all falls back to do unto others. You wouldn't expect your brother to charge you interest but you would your boss (OT Lord), a merchant, or banker. In the verse above we must remember this is a picture of Jesus Himself coming back to see what the servant (us) had done with his money. As the old song says, Jesus Paid it All, All to Him I Owe.