Not every Bible story ends with a rescue, a celebration or a felt-board animal walking toward an ark.
The account of Ananias and Sapphira is considerably less comforting.
In Acts 5, the husband and wife sell a piece of property and present part of the money to the apostles. Keeping some of the proceeds was not the problem. Peter makes it clear that the property and money belonged to them.
The problem was that they wanted the reputation of radical generosity without actually making the sacrifice. They kept part of the money while pretending they had given everything.
In other words, they were not merely dishonest about finances. They attempted to manufacture spiritual credibility.
That plan ended badly.
Dan Stevers retells the story in A Grim Tale of Ananias and Sapphira, an animated short based on Acts 5:1-11.
The story is unsettling because the judgment is sudden and severe. There is no extended warning, no dramatic change of heart and no opportunity to repair the public image they were trying to build.
Ananias falls dead after Peter confronts him. A few hours later, Sapphira repeats the lie and suffers the same fate.
The point was not that Christians had to surrender every possession. The point was that God could not be manipulated by a performance of holiness.
The early church had witnessed remarkable generosity, unity and growth. Ananias and Sapphira wanted the admiration attached to that generosity while quietly withholding the truth.
Apparently, lying to the Holy Spirit is a poor foundation for a personal branding strategy.
Watch A Grim Tale of Ananias and Sapphira above, and read the full account in Acts 5:1-11.