Acts 5:1-8: a reflection

1But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2and kept back part of the price, his wife also being aware of it, then brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4While you kept it, didn’t it remain your own? After it was sold, wasn’t it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You haven’t lied to men, but to God.” 5Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and died. Great fear came on all who heard these things. 6The young men arose and wrapped him up, and they carried him out and buried him. 7About three hours later, his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in. 8Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” She said, “Yes, for so much.”

In the early church, where believers were sharing their possessions freely, Ananias and Sapphira sell a piece of property and bring part of the proceeds to the apostles, but they pretend they are giving all of it. Their sin was not in keeping some back; that was their right. Their sin was the pretense, the lie: acting as though they were wholly devoted while secretly holding back, seeking the reputation of full devotion without its reality. Peter names it: you have not lied to men, but to God.

Notice where their sin lay: in the pretense, the hypocrisy. They wanted to appear more devoted than they were, to be seen as giving everything while secretly keeping part for themselves. It was not the keeping back that condemned them, but the lie about it, the attempt to seem wholly devoted before others while their hearts held something back. And Peter makes clear that this pretense was not merely before people, but before God, who sees the heart.

That is a searching warning against pretending to a devotion we do not have. We can be tempted, like Ananias and Sapphira, to appear more devoted than we are, to seek the reputation of wholehearted commitment while secretly holding part of ourselves back, hoping others will not see the difference. But God sees; the pretense is before him, who knows the heart. Do not pretend to a devotion you do not have; do not seek to appear wholly given to God while secretly holding back. It is better to be honestly what you are before God than to wear a mask of devotion over a divided heart. God sees the heart; give him not a pretense of devotion but the real thing, and let there be no gap between what you appear to be and what you are before him.

Lord, Ananias and Sapphira sold their property and pretended to give all of it while secretly holding part back; their sin was not the keeping back, which was their right, but the pretense, the lie, seeking the reputation of full devotion without its reality, and Peter told them they had lied not to men but to you. Let that warn me against pretending to a devotion I do not have. I can be tempted, like them, to appear more devoted than I am, to seek the reputation of wholehearted commitment while secretly holding part of myself back, hoping others will not see the difference. But you see; the pretense is before you, who know the heart. Keep me from pretending to a devotion I do not have; keep me from seeking to appear wholly given to you while secretly holding back. It is better to be honestly what I am before you than to wear a mask of devotion over a divided heart. You see the heart; help me give you not a pretense of devotion but the real thing, and let there be no gap between what I appear to be and what I am before you. Make me true before you, Lord, not merely before others.