Pastor Mensa Otabil has challenged churches to build Christian communities in which genuine deprivation is addressed so that no believer is forced to depend on begging for survival.
Preaching “The Barnabas Model,” Part Five of The 2:42 Church series, the Founder and General Overseer of ICGC drew attention to Acts 4:34, which declares that there was no one among the early believers who lacked.
According to Pastor Otabil, the passage does not suggest that Christians reached a point where they had absolutely no needs.
“Nobody is reduced to the point where begging becomes their means of survival,” he explained.
He noted that while begging existed in the wider society of the early church, the Christian community developed a system through which members with resources helped meet the needs of those who were deprived.
Pastor Otabil identified believers who possessed lands and houses as crucial to achieving this outcome. Their generosity enabled the church to care for vulnerable members.
“The Christian community is designed to be a self-financing community,” he stated.
He argued that when Christians embrace this biblical model of stewardship, the modern church can similarly become financially capable of fulfilling its mission and caring for its members.
The challenge of Acts 4 remains: a strong church does not ignore genuine need within its own community.
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