No More Pretending: Acts 5:1-16

Do you remember PRETENDING when you were growing up? Ya know—dressing up and acting like someone else.

Last week our family went to see the new Masters of the Universe movie, and man, did it bring back memories. I always PRETENDED to be He-Man when I was growing up—you know, Prince Adam and all. Of course there were also times I PRETENDED to be a fireman or a doctor…and on more than a few Saturdays, Superfly Jimmy Snuka, jumping off the top ropes.

What was it for you? Do you remember? Teacher? Librarian? Soldier? Princess? Maybe you played house and PRETENDED to be Mom or Dad?

PRETENDING is actually an important part of childhood. Today they call it imaginative play. Psychologists say it helps children develop emotional regulation, problem-solving skills, communication, creativity, and even vocabulary.

But here’s the question: when does PRETENDING stop being healthy and start being destructive? Like, when does make-believe become hypocrisy?

That word hypocrite actually has it’s origin in PRETENDING. In ancient Greek theater, actors wore different masks to play different characters. One actor could play multiple roles simply by changing masks.

So when Jesus uses the term hypocrites, He’s using this language. He’s saying, “You’re wearing a mask…not being honest! PRETENDING to be someone or something that you’re not!"

And, that’s exactly what we find in Acts 5. Turn there please in your Bibles. Acts 5 [p939].

As we return to our study of Acts, Luke takes us from one of the most beautiful pictures of a healthy church to one of the most sobering warnings in all of Scripture.

Two weeks ago, Austin walked us through the end of Acts 4. It was a remarkable scene. God’s grace was so powerfully at work among His people that there were no needy persons among them. They were unified. They were generous. They were living in step with the Spirit.

Luke even highlights one man named Barnabas. If you don’t remember, Barnabas sold some property, and brought the money to the the Apostles so they could use it to help people. It’s a stunning act of generosity and faithfulness.

Then you turn the page and Acts 5:1 begins with one small word, “Now.” Several other translations use the word, “But.”

The first word, of the first verse of Acts 5 seems to serve as a stop sign for us. There was great unity…BUT. The people shared there possessions…BUT. God’s grace was so powerfully at work in all of them…BUT.

Luke wants you and I to feel the tension…and feel it we better. He’s about to give us a stern warning that we would be wise to pay attention to because this sounds an awful lot like what is happening at The Crossing right now, doesn’t it?

The church is thriving. People are being saved. Needs are being met. God’s grace is powerfully at work.

And what happened then, always happens when a great movement of God is happening: the enemy can’t leave it alone. He had already tried from the outside with threats and intimidation and persecution. And that didn’t work. So now…he changes strategies. Now the attack comes from within…in the form of PRETENDING.

Let’s read it together. Acts 5:1-11.

PRAY—God give us ears to hear, a heart to understand, and the discipline to put into practice what You’re teaching us today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I almost called this sermon: GIVE AND LIVE; LIE AND DIE. I didn’t—but I could have. Because while this story certainly involves lying, Luke is after something deeper.

Peter makes it clear that Ananias and Sapphira’s sin wasn’t keeping some of the money. In v4 he says, Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?

Nobody forced them to sell the property. Nobody demanded they give all the proceeds. The issue wasn’t the amount. The issue was that they wanted people to believe something that wasn’t true.

They were PRETENDING to be devoted without actually being devoted. And that’s what makes this story so uncomfortable.

Because most of us don’t struggle with selling property and deciding how much to give to the church. But every one of us knows what it’s like to want people to think we’re doing better than we actually are.

Stronger than we are. More generous than we are. More spiritual than we are. More surrendered than we are.

Ananias and Sapphira wanted the appearance of devotion without the reality of devotion.

That’s a temptation every one of us faces. Which is why I titled today’s message: No More Pretending. That was Ananias and Sapphira’s sin: PRETENDING. Hypocrisy. They wanted admiration. They wanted applause. They wanted image.

So what’s at the root of that? Why did they—why do we— need people to believe certain things about us so badly?

Because PRETENDING isn’t the root sin, it’s the fruit of something deeper. Ananias and Sapphira didn’t PRETEND because they were greedy, they PRETENDED because their identity depended on what other people thought.

So here’s what we learn right off the bat today: Whatever your identity rests upon will determine what you’re willing to lie about.

If your identity is being a good parent…you’ll PRETEND you never struggle. If your identity is in serving others…you’ll PRETEND you have it all together and never need help. If your identity is in your marriage…you’ll PRETEND everyday is like the first day of your honeymoon.

The PRETENDING exposes the idol.

That’s why I think Luke’s placement of Ananias and Sapphira immediately following Barnabas in Acts 4 is intentional.

Outwardly they looked alike. Both sold property. Both laid money at the Apostles’ feet. But Barnabas was motivated by worship. Ananias was motivated by image. The actions looked identical. Their hearts couldn’t have been more different.

And that’s the danger Luke wants us to see. Not merely lying…faking it. Lacking integrity. PRETENDING.

When the Pharisees did this, Jesus didn’t just call them hypocrites. He called them “whitewashed tombs”—which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. [Matthew 23:27]

This is what PRETENDING does. It rots us from the inside out. Ananias and Sapphira wanted sacrifice without the cost. They wanted the reputation of generosity without the reality of generosity. They wanted applause without obedience.

And this is so human. It’s why Ananias wanted everyone to to think he was Barnabas. And it’s why you and I want others to believe we’re better than we are.

The human heart is always looking for validation. We all want someone to say, “You’re enough. You’re valuable. You’re significant.” The tragedy is that we often look for that validation in the applause of people instead of the approval of God.

And that’s why PRETENDING is so exhausting. Every lie creates another lie to protect it. Every performance demands another performance. But church—hear me—the gospel tells us something different. The gospel announces that There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

Every day we’re tempted to believe the lie that that’s not true—that we still have something to prove, something to earn, or someone to impress. And that’s not a new struggle. It’s the oldest lie in the book.

Go all the way back to Genesis 3. Satan lied. In John 8, Jesus calls him a liar and the father of lies. And here in Acts 5, the devil once again is trying to bring deception into the middle of what God is doing.

Look at v3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit…

And don’t miss what the devil’s doing—it’s subtle and sneaky—convincing Ananias that PRETENDING is not that big a deal.

Friends, Satan rarely shows up looking like Satan. He doesn’t arrive with a pitchfork and a name tag.

He shows up—the Bible says—in a mask, and with a whisper…No one will know…it’s not a big deal…you deserve this…everybody does this…

That’s how deception works. That’s how PRETENDING grows. And that’s how the enemy seeks to undermine what God is doing in the lives of His people.

Look again at what Ananias and Sapphira actually did. They weren’t simply telling a lie. They were creating an image.

And before we’re too hard on them, let’s not fool ourselves. We’re more like Ananias and Sapphira than we’d like to admit. Every one of us is tempted to protect our image instead of walking in honesty.

And that’s the real weight behind this story today. God wasn’t protecting a financial transaction. He was protecting the integrity of His church.

I think that’s why God’s judgment is so swift and so severe here in Acts 5.

He’s not about to let Satan gain a foothold in His church. He’s not about to let deception take root in a community the Holy Spirit has just filled.

Remember what Acts has been showing us: the Church isn’t merely a gathering of people. The church is the place where the living God has come to dwell by His Spirit.

And if God truly dwells among His people, we shouldn’t be surprised by His seriousness about for us to be His people!

Look at the story again. No person exposes Ananias and Sapphira. God does. The apostles had no accounting records. No spreadsheets. No investigation committee.

God simply revealed the truth.

v4 You have not lied just to human beings but to God. v5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.

This was public, deliberate deception in the presence of the Holy Spirit during the church’s earliest days. And God would not allow that deception to define what He was building.

And here’s what we need to understand: God doesn’t expose deception to shame His people. He exposes deception to cleanse His people.

The exposure is the beginning of restoration.

That’s what truth does. Truth brings darkness into the light. It reveals what is hidden. Truth confronts what is false.

And when we receive that correction—when we humble ourselves before God and let His truth shape us—it produces good things in us. New life. New direction. New freedom.

That’s what Hebrews 12 teaches us. It says that God’s correction produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

The tragedy of this story is that Ananias and Sapphira had opportunities to be honest…Sapphira especially.

Peter gave her every chance to tell the truth. But she doubled down. She chose PRETENDING over repentance.

And God’s word tells us straight away, you may be sure that your sin will find you out (Numbers 32:23).

And so it did. But—notice the result.

Twice Luke tells us that great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

The church was reminded that God sees what people can’t see. That He can’t be fooled. That holiness matters. And that PRETENDING is dangerous.

But here’s what’s remarkable. Fear wasn’t the only result.

Look at v12-16.

Truth confronted deception. Judgment followed. Fear spread. And yet—the church grew.

In fact, Luke says in v14 …more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

Isn’t that wild? Like, why didn’t everyone run away? Well, because holy fear and amazing grace aren’t enemies. The God who exposes sin is also the God who forgives sinners.

PRETENDING is natural for us. We naturally want to keep our darkness hidden. We don’t want anyone to know what’s really going on.

But when we humble ourselves and step into the light, that’s where God does His best work.

Yeah, it stings at first. Yeah, it’s uncomfortable. But that’s where forgiveness is found. That’s where change begins.

That’s where grace meets us.

CONCLUSION

I tell ya, this account of events in Acts 5 is a tough one. It stirs up all kinds of questions and feelings and…“Yikes!”

But the longer I sit with this story, a hard reality starts to set in: Ananias and Sapphira aren’t just a warning for us—they’re a mirror.

All of us have had Ananias Moments. We’ve all managed an image. We’ve all wanted people to think better of us than was really true. We’ve all PRETENDED.

Which means the question today isn’t, why did God judge them?

The question is, why are we still standing?

And the answer is: JESUS.

At the cross, Jesus took the judgment our sin deserved. Not just our lies but our hypocrisy. Our PRETENDING. Every bit of it. That’s why there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [Romans 8:1] The verdict is already in. Which means you have nothing left to prove!

Friends, that’s the beauty of the gospel—it’s not an invitation to PRETEND—it’s an invitation to come clean. To step into the light and BE HONEST before God.

God doesn’t love the version of you you’re PRETENDING to be. He loves the person behind the mask.

He already knows your fears. He already knows your struggles. He already knows your doubts and failures. The only one fooled by your PRETENDING—is you. So stop performing…start surrendering and BE HONEST.

The love, and the grace, and the mercy of Jesus says, Come to Me. Come broken. Come weary. Come just as you are.

This week, take off the mask and BE HONEST.

Tell God the truth.

Tell a trusted brother or sister the truth.

Stop saying “I’m fine” when you’re not.

Ask for help.

Bring into the light what you’ve been managing in the dark.

And when you do—you will always find the same thing on the other side: God’s grace.

So this week, BE HONEST because PRETENDING will destroy you—but the truth you bring to Jesus will set you free.

Let’s pray.