But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. (Acts 5:1-2)
I want to warn everyone about a rather common trap – the trap this woman named Sapphira fell into. At the start, I need to be very clear about what I do NOT mean. I am not talking about a domestic abuse victim, for instance, who is still in a marriage which is no marriage. Getting free, as we all know, is not generally very easy. It often is a complicated matter and sometimes, at least for the present, getting free of an abuser just isn’t possible. Children, economic issues, a place to live – all these factors and more enter into the picture.
But the kind of person (we will say a “wife” though this can also be a trap a man married to a narcissist can be snared by)…the kind of person I want to write about here is the wife who chooses to stay with the wicked man and to even participate with him, defend him, enable him, in his evil deeds.
I have seen t his very scenario a number of times. A wife, knowing full well what her husband is, nevertheless chooses to not just remain with him, but to become an accomplice in his sins and crimes. Sapphria, you see. She had full knowledge of what her husband was doing and she chose to participate in it. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” Guilty.
You do not want to be a Sapphira. Not for money, not for security, not for image and reputation. Sapphira’s sin was that of taking active participation in her husband’s evil. It is the sin of knowing your spouse is a RASN (reviler, abuser, sociopath, narcissist) and yet choosing his/her side. A victim becoming an ally. In the cases which I have seen personally, there seemed to be a specific “tipping point” at which the victim morphed into the abuser’s ally. The change was dramatic, happening literally in a moment of time. It is a kind of treason – to choose the enemy side and stand with evil.
That is what Sapphira did. In doing so, she incurred God’s wrath and judgment and ended in the same pit as her husband. Be courageous! Stand for Christ no matter the cost. Sapphira’s way is Broadway and it ends in hell.