Becoming a Community of Disciples

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Becoming a Community of Disciples

whatever is easily and cheaply obtained in each locality and available for common use, 22 and bring in from a distance only those things which are really necessary for life, such as oil and the like, or if something is to be used for the relief of the sick. Personal Property (RBas §29) Q: Should someone who is among the brothers have anything of his own? R: 1 This is contrary to the testimony written in the Acts of the Apostles concerning those who first believed, 2 for there it speaks thus: Not one of them said that any of his possessions was his own, but all things were common to all (Acts 4:32). 3 If someone therefore says that anything is his own, he without doubt makes himself a stranger to the elect of God and from the love of the Lord who taught in word and completed it in deed and who laid down his life for his friends (cf. John 15:13). 4 Now if he himself gave his life for his friends , what claim have we on our possessions, which are, after all, external to our life? Accepting Gifts (RBas §31) Q: Should one accept anything from relatives in the flesh? R: 1 It is necessary that relatives render to those coming to the Lord what is their due and subtract nothing, that they may not incur the judgement for sacrilege. 2 But to disburse these things before the eyes of those to whom they appeared to belong often becomes an occasion of