DAILY LIFE
Becoming a Christian could plunge the believer into dire financial straits. Non-Christian families would sever their familial relationship with the Christian convert in a world in which single people could not survive on their own. Because the family was the key to survival in the ancient world, it was the fundamental social structure in both Jewish and Gentile worlds. When acceptance of Christianity caused believers to be ostracized from their biological families, they experienced not only economic but also social and emotional isolation. Jesus recognized that difficulty and spoke about the church as the Christian’s new family (Matt. 12:46-50; 19:27-29).
As an example of the predicaments believers in Jesus faced, widows in Jerusalem would find themselves cut off from the financial support the civic authorities had provided them. Other new members who may have remained after their conversion on the Day of Pentecost added to the financial expenses of the church in Jerusalem. As a result of such problems, members in the city began to share their resources. Those who owned houses or land would sell them and donate the proceeds to the needy (Acts 4:32-37).
As the number of widows the church cared for increased, it created tensions. The Greek-speaking Jewish Christians began to complain that the church leaders were overlooking their widows. The disciples seemed more focused on serving the Aramaic-speaking widows. Furthermore, the time-consuming task of distributing material aid to the widows was limiting the disciple’s ability to evangelize. The Twelve convened all the disciples and told them that they needed to select seven individuals who would have prime responsibility for tending to the widows (Acts 6:1-6). Though often called deacons, the book of Acts focuses on their ministry, not their title. Some of the seven also became evangelists, as the book of Acts clearly depicts, particularly to the Hellenistic Jews and Gentiles (Acts 6:8, 9; 8:26-38; 21:8).
Unfortunately, some took advantage of Christian aid and support. Many refused to work, expecting the church to feed them and provide other physical needs. Because so many able and healthy converts were draining the financial resources of various Christian communities without contributing anything useful, Paul had to take the difficult position of declaring that if someone did not work, they should not be supplied with food from their fellow believers (2 Thess. 3:10).
Biblical society considered it the responsibility of the extended family to support widows, though the community of believers provided food and other aid, as seen in Acts 6. Unfortunately, many family members were trying to avoid their duty by having the church assume care for their needy relatives. It became such a burden that Paul called for restrictions on whom the church should aid. First, he directed that if a widow had children or grandchildren, they were responsible for her support (1 Tim. 5:3, 4). A fundamental principle of Christian life was caring for one’s own family (vv. 7, 8). As for those women who received church aid, they should live a godly life (vv. 5, 6, 10). Finally, widows had to be at least 60 years of age (at a time when life expectancy often did not extend beyond the 30s). As for younger widows, the apostle encouraged them to marry and avoid a life of idleness and gossip (v. 11-15). Christian women should help widowed relatives to keep them from becoming a burden on the church.
When a famine struck Judea that drove food prices up, believers in Jerusalem and the surrounding region found themselves in a desperate situation. They had already sold off much of their assets earlier. To aid the impoverished members and to establish stronger ties between Jewish and Gentile Christians, Paul began to collect funds from Gentile church members as he traveled on his third missionary journey (Rom. 15:25-27). He especially had urged the members in the Corinthian church to give each week in proportion to their income (1 Cor. 16:1-4; cf. Acts 20:4) and not to let their original enthusiastic pledging wane (2 Cor. 9:1-5). Other congregations contributed also. Earlier, the church at Antioch of Syria had sent a similar famine relief offering to Jerusalem (Acts 11:27-30).
As the church grew, Christians became noted for their care and compassion for the poor and firm commitment to Christ, a reputation that helped the spread of the gospel throughout the Roman Empire.