Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” Acts 5:3-4
One of the obstacles to the kind of generosity that the early church demonstrated in the book of Acts is comparison. When we compare ourselves to other people’s generosity, one of two things happens: we either withhold generosity or compete with the generous people around us. We withhold generosity because we feel we cannot give in the same way someone else did. When we compete, we try to match or outdo someone else’s generosity simply because we want to impress others with our generosity. Either way, this comparison misses the heart of generosity because they miss an essential part of true generosity: integrity.
Acts 5 tells the story of Ananias and Sapphira, two people who let comparison get in the way of their generosity. The end of Acts 4 tells us about a man named Barnabas who was incredibly generous. He sold some land and brought all the money from that sale to the apostles (verse 37). Clearly, Ananias and Sapphira heard about this act of generosity because they sold some of their land in the following verses that begin chapter 5. The thing that is different from Barnabas is that they only gave part of the money to the apostles, but they claimed that they gave them the total amount of their proceeds from selling their land (verse 2). Peter immediately calls them out, saying, “The property was yours to sell or not to sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us, but to God!” (verse 4). Peter explained that the problem with their actions was that they lied about their generosity. They wanted to show off their generosity so that people would talk about them the way they talked about Barnabas, and as a result, they gave up their integrity. After telling the lie that they had given 100% of their proceeds from their land sales to the apostles, both Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead.
We can learn several things from the story of Ananias and Sapphira, and at the top of the list is that integrity matters. It matters that we are consistent in our character, from the small to the significant moments. One way to live with integrity is to let go of comparison. When we stop comparing, we do not feel a need to be something that we are not. We are more genuine and comfortable in our skin. May you and I commit to being people of integrity every day.
Please take a few minutes to evaluate your motives when it comes to generosity. Are you living with integrity, giving because you want to obey God and love the church and people around you, or are you giving because you want to be recognized? Perhaps you are not giving because you feel like you don’t have enough to give, even though you know followers of Christ are called to generosity. Both positions, giving for show or not giving, compromise our integrity. How will you take steps toward integrity regarding your generosity today?
"But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”
5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?”
“Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”
9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”
10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened."
