Jamin Bradley

According to Sigurd Grindheim, Greek and Roman philosophers sometimes imagined a utopia in which a community “lived together in perfect harmony and shared everything.” That being said, when the early church launched and looked very much like this description, some may have thought that utopia had finally been realized.

But as with all good things, Satan always finds a way to twist it. The first offenders of the new Christian utopia were a couple named Ananias and Sapphira. Having recently sold some property, the couple agreed to give the proceeds to the church, but they kept some back for themselves without mentioning it. Peter recognized this decision as the work of Satan in their hearts, and the two died supernaturally.

This story is enough to send shivers down our spines, as it is one of the most intense stories of judgment in the New Testament. But this is not a story about tithing or generosity, as some pastors might retell it. This is the story of a couple who wondered how they might use the church’s new utopian society to get ahead. They didn’t face judgment because they kept some of their own money to themselves—that was always their choice to make. They faced judgment because they wanted people to think they were far more generous than they were. As far as anyone else knew, they had given all of their money away. In this new utopia, such an action would make them look holy and righteous, gain the community’s respect, and likely move them up in leadership.

As I was listening to the radio this morning, a historian was discussing the ideals around the founding of America. These were the beliefs and actions that set us apart from the rest of the world. We were a republic, and we cared about the pursuit of happiness, liberty, and justice for all.

This description sat oddly with me on America’s 250th birthday. I’m all for putting power in the people’s hands, but I can’t think of any American who really feels like they have any real sway over the government. I can think of people who believe the whole world has equal access to happiness, liberty, and justice, but anyone who has done the research unequivocally knows that’s not true. While the ideals themselves are good, we are hardly a shining city on a hill of those ideas 250 years later. What happened?

Any of the utopian ideals America was founded upon have been corrupted over time by the same forces that pried at the church’s utopia in its earliest days. With a little bit of money and deceit, you can buy your way forward in any system and then turn it back to glorify yourself. Not even the church itself can create a system that’s so perfect that Sin won’t find a way to manipulate it, for Sin knows how to twist everything. There is no ideal or action so pure that it can’t be twisted in some way. Even our pursuit of Jesus himself can be turned into religious legalism and hatred if Satan grabs hold of our hearts and minds along the way.

Yes, there are better ways to do things, and those ways should always be chosen. But we should never be so naive as to think we have finally found the kind of governor or governance that is impervious to Sin. Checks and balances must always bring about prophetic correction—and that will only happen when your checks and balances aren’t also corrupted by Sin.

The world is a mess. May we keep our eyes on Jesus always. We may not always have the power to change the systems of this world, but we always have the space to let the Spirit change us as we live within those systems.