Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.  With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts 5:1-2

As a parent, I have always found it helpful to have “negative examples” to point to for my children to learn from.  Unfortunately, there are usually plenty to choose from as I look around our society.  And scripture is also replete with examples, as it records events in society’s history.  Such is the case with the story of Ananais.  He was a man who wanted to give money to God’s work.  He may not look bad from the outside.  In fact, he looks pretty good!  He voluntarily sold his own property, and brought most of the money to the disciples.  What was bad about that?

Ananais’ mistake was what he did between the lines in verse 2.  Although it is not written out, it is largely assumed that Ananais told the disciples that he was giving the entire price of the property to the church.  He was lying.  And the Holy Spirit revealed this truth to Peter.

Then Peter said, “Ananais, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?  Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold?  And after it was sold, wasn’t that money at your disposal?  What made you think of doing such a thing?  You have not lied to men but to God.”

Acts 5:3-4

As Peter said, the money belonged to Ananais.  It was his to do with as he pleased.  And it was a common practice at this time for Christian land owners to sell a piece of land, give the money to the disciples, and they in turn gave the money to those who were in need (Acts 4:34-35).  Would it have been a sin for Ananais to keep his money?  Would it have been bad for him to keep a portion of it for himself?  No.  Peter said that it was his to keep.  His mistake was that he lied to the disciples in order to look like a “better” person than he was.  He was a selfish man (keeping some of the money for himself), and he was a prideful man (telling others he was giving all the money so that they would admire him).  And he was a dishonest man as he lied to the disciples, but worse yet, to the Holy Spirit.  All of this showed how little he understood about God.  Did he think that he could fool God?  Did he think that having man’s approval was more important than God’s?  He obviously did not know that God is all-knowing and nothing gets past his understanding.  He also did not understand that walking in a manner worthy of the Lord is much more desirable than pleasing man.  We can never live a life that will “impress” God.  We are sinners in need of a savior, and only Christ’s righteousness can make us acceptable to God.  But living a life that seeks to please him and flee from sin is to be chosen far above living to impress those around us.  All else is futile.

Ananais also gives us a very negative example of how a man should lead his wife.  A Godly man will seek to encourage his wife in her walk with God.  He will live out examples of how Christ loves the church.  He will always lead her in truth, and will protect her in everything that he does.  Ananais did none of this.  He led his wife into sin.  Verse 2 says that his wife had “full knowledge” of the lie he was about to tell.  He caused her to become a part of the lie, and to suffer the same consequence that he did.

When Ananais heard this, he fell down and died.  And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.  Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.  About three hours later is wife came in, not knowing what had happened.  Peter asked her, ‘Tell me, is this the price you and Ananais got for the land?’  ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘that is the price.’  Peter said to her, ‘How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord?  Look!  The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.’  At that moment she fell down at his feet and died.

Acts 5:5-10

A real man should be more concerned with God’s opinion over man’s.  A real man should lead his wife through his Godly example and encourage her to walk with God in obedience.  A real man is a man of his word who understands who God is and desires to please him.  Ananais did not leave us a positive example to follow.  He is not a man that we would want to emulate.  But we can look at his negative example and learn from that.  We can pattern our lives to look different from his, and the result will definitely be an improvement!

make it real

Examine your life.  Look at your motives.  Are you seeking to please God with your life, or are you more concerned with what other men think of you?  Are you honest with God?  Remember that he knows everything anyway-to try to hide truth from him is impossible.  If you are married, are you leading your wife in grace and truth?  Are you seeking to protect her by your words and actions?  Seek to please God in all these ways through the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.

prayer

Heavenly Father, teach us what it means to be real men.  Help us to remember that you are the one in charge, and help us to please you in all that we do.  Thank you, Lord, for negative examples that we can learn from.  Help us to be positive examples as we walk with you.  In Jesus’ name,  Amen.