happy medium?

Stuck. In Acts. Still. Read the end of chapter 4 today. To cut/copy a snippet:

Acts 4:4 But many of those who had heard the message believed ; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Acts 4:32 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. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. 34 For 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 35 and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. 36 Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement ), 37 and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Again, we see this picture of a sweet, simple, pure picture of the Church. But, what my mind wanders to wonder... how did the 3,000 (Acts2) + 5,000 (Acts4) believers exist as this almost "sub-culture?" Like how did that flesh out when it came to living under government regulations as well? They sold property and goods and gave to the apostles to distribute as there were needs (Acts4/above), but how did that really work? Organization and parameters had to eventually be put into place, I guess, which maybe is how we worked our way up to the "Church" as we know it in a general sense today. Thinking of present day Church, I guess I just wonder where that "happy medium", no "God-honoring medium" exists, and if we've strayed too far from it.