"And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.  And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.  And there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.  Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means 'Son of Encouragement'), and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet."

Here we have a glimpse at something that the early church valued:  community.

It is not that they were forced to sell what they had and give it to the needy.  They were not asked by God specifically to do this so the church would grow. 

The fact is, they loved spending time with each other.  Those who were recently saved found a common bond amongst their new brothers and sisters.  Christ.  They treasured this bond so much that they would spend most of their resources trying to protect it.  Anything they could do to build community was worth it.  Sell all they had and live communally - great.  That means more time to spend looking into the things of God with friends that are also looking.  This is how important community was to the early church.

And that created a new standard of hero.  He was now defined as one who wanted to propagate community.

The challenge for the church today is not to find a way to live together like they did in the first century, but to find a way to love community and build it with all resources.