Central Truth

In the presence of the church, Ananais and Sapphira made a pretense of presenting the full sale price of their property to God, but secretly saved back some of the money.  They lied to God and were struck dead.

Reflections

The first lesson I learned in network television was to be as perfect as possible. Showing flaws was like giving bullets to the TV critics and could end a career. Fault-finding in legalistic churches also reinforced a fear of revealing weakness. But Ananais and Sapphira went beyond hiding flaws. They lied to impress God and the church, and were struck dead. 

Honesty is essential in our relationship with God. If He impresses us to do something, we can trust that we won't be left wanting when we obey Him. And as we trust Him and know we are secure with Him, we are freed to be honest and vulnerable before others. The phony spirituality of Ananais and Sapphira is contagious and toxic, but authenticity and transparency in a church encourage genuine spiritual growth.

When I was commissioned as a missionary, I was tapped to give my testimony before several hundred people and sixty other new missionaries.  I prepared a safe presentation, but suddenly I knew God wanted me to tell the entire truth. The truth wasn’t pretty and I didn’t want to hand the bullets to the audience. Life had been superficially great before I became a Christian. But after I committed to the Lord, I lost everything and experienced a series of unbelievable catastrophes and injuries, and suffered post-traumatic stress. I explained how God had used every shocking incident to strip away all things that supported me in my life. All I had left was reliance on Him alone and with that, a joyous new life of ministry to others. When I finished speaking, the audience leapt to their feet applauding and many came forward to commit to full-time ministry. I was amazed. No bullets! I had told the truth as God had instructed me, and He had used it to speak to others.

Since then, I’ve seen again and again that obedience to God, confidence in Him alone, and honest vulnerability before others are essential to spiritual maturing, and to being used by God for the sake of others and the cause of Christ.

Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think Ananias and Sapphira tried to deceive the Lord?
2. What do Christians hide from one other?
3. Do people seem to trust you and open up to you? Why or why not?
4. Do you feel competitive with others, especially in your church? How can you change this?
5. Are there things in your life that you know aren’t right before God? What do you believe God wants you to do about them?