Read: Acts 4:32 – 5:16
But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. “Ananias,” Peter asked, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land…You did not lie to us but to God!” Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him (Acts 5:1-3; 4c-6, NRSV).
Integrity has been in the news a lot lately, though that’s mostly due to its absence.
Have you noticed that the people who talk about integrity the most are often the ones who embody it the least? Here is a glaring example, “ripped from the headlines” as they say.
This past week House Speaker Kevin McCarthy cited integrity as his reason for refusing to reinstate democrats Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff to the House Intelligence Committee. This from the man who had just appointed conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene to the Homeland Security Committee and serial liar George Santos to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. “Integrity matters more,” McCarthy opined in his letter to House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries.
One is hard pressed to know what to say in response to such hypocrisy. Political strategist Rick Wilson, however, came up with this memorable quip: “Man, the self-awareness removal surgery really worked well.”
In truth, we have all had a certain amount of self-awareness removal surgery. That’s what leads us to thinking the story of Ananias and Sapphira is about somebody else.
To really understand the story of this notorious couple, it helps to get the backstory. In the previous chapter we’re told that the early Christians “were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common” (Acts 4:32). The result of this remarkable commitment was that “there was not a needy person among them.” We’re then introduced to Barnabas, the poster-child for integrity, who “sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”
It’s against this background that we meet Ananias and his wife Sapphira. They agree to hold back some of the proceeds from their real estate sale. When their hypocrisy is revealed, they take turns dropping dead and are carried feet first into history.
Not surprisingly, “great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things” (5:11). What is surprising, however, is that the church continued to grow. It seems to have been slow going at first. Directly after the Ananias and Sapphira incident, “none of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem.” Eventually, however, “more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women.”
We could worry over many things in this story. Questions like, “Does Christianity really prohibit private property?” or “Does God really strike people dead for lying?” come to mind. These are great questions, but I think I’d be content if we simply took this story as a reminder of the importance of integrity.
What if the Church grew not in spite of the sobering story Ananias and Sapphira, but because of it. Maybe today more believers would be “added to the Lord” if those of us who bear Christ’s name gained a better reputation for integrity. What would it be like for the Christian church to again be held “in high esteem”? Now there’s a wistful question!
Truth be told, I’m glad the author of Acts was honest enough to include the story of this notorious couple. As preacher Will Willimon points out, this story reminds us that the church has always been full of “real people struggling to be faithful in a world which makes faithfulness problematic.” At the end of the day, “the Ananiases and Sapphiras of the church…are us.”* And it’s up to us—with God being our helper—to restore the Church’s reputation for integrity.
Ponder: What examples of integrity have you witnessed lately—either inside or outside the Church? How do those examples motivate you?
Pray: Help us to be honest with ourselves, with others, and with you, O God.
*William H. Willimon, Acts in the Interpretation Series (Atlanta: Westminster John Knox Press, 1988), p. 55.