It didn't last long, really, the disciples' first attempt at communal living—selling everything they had, bringing it together for distribution, so that no one claimed anything as their own, but everyone had enough. Just two chapters later, what happens? The Hellenists—that is, the Greek Christians—complain because their widows aren't getting as much aid as the Hebrew Christian widows. 

Maybe it was greed or racial prejudice on the part of the Hebrews. Maybe it was grabbing on the part of the Hellenists. Maybe it was neglect on the part of the apostles. Maybe it was just a faulty method of distribution—good intentions run amuck. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be the last time the church would have to deal with the tension between ethnic groups, the "haves and have-nots," ways of effectively…