Conflict in the Church (part 1)

Acts 15:1-3:
Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

The Argument: You cannot accept Messiah without being Jewish. Circumcision has always been a part of proselization. Jesus is a supplement to Moses, and you cannot put the cart before the horse.

The Response: Completely unacceptable. The Law does not save. It did not save us Jews. It will not save the Gentiles.

The Resolution: Find a third party of believers. People who have known the truth of the gospel for a long time, who because of their tenure of faith and closeness with Jesus can speak with some authority here.

This was an important debate. I'm certainly glad that Paul and Barnabas did not simply agree to disagree. The history of Christianity was at stake and they could sense it.

I'm also grateful for the good sense of the people at Antioch to seek assistance from an outside church and from believers who had a more tenured perspective.

I pray that we could have the wisdom to sense which disputes were worth fighting and which were not, and that we could have the backbone to not back down even in the face of intimidating opposition (see Galatians 2:11-16 for more).

And I pray that we would have wisdom to know how to resolve issues. I pray that we would have the unity and humility to lean on others outside our circle. I pray that we would find creative and loving ways to maintain our unity in truth.

Can't win them all

Acts 14 begins with Paul and Barnabbas in Iconium. But the resistance from the non-converts became so strong that PAul and Barnabbas had to flee. They go to Lystra. And Lystra is one of the strangest accounts in Acts to me.

While Paul is speaking, he heals a man. The people who saw this (presumably the same ones who heard Paul's message) conclude that Paul and Barnabbas must be Hermes and Zeus, respectively.

They get the priests and some bulls to start the sacrifice when Paul and Barnabbas tear their clothes. They said, "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." (Acts 14:15-17)

Here's my question: How did Paul's message get so misunderstood? What did he say that could have been construed such?

But even after, he sets them straight, they still "had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them." Crazy!

Then the Jews who opposed him in Iconium and and Antioch (see chapter 13) came and won the crowd over. They began to stone them.

Paul barely escapes but moves quickly on to Derbe to preach there. He has great succes there. He then went back to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, the three places where he had just faced so much opposition.

I guess you can't win them all. Not even Paul and Barnabbas did. This probably was frustrating for them (though it did not show), but I find it encouraging.

This is embarassing to admit, but when I came to ELCC, I was confident that we would be running huge numbers and having weekly baptisms in no time. Green behind my ears and naive arrogance in my eyes. I could not imagine that I would be so bad at some things. I could not imagine that I would encounter so many failures.

But He who called us is faithful, and everything he does is right. I'm glad Paul and Barnabbas did not give up in Antioch, Iconium or Lystra. And I'm gald that I have not given up either. Now, when a ministry effort turns into a disaster, I'll squint and say, "Hey, isn't that Derbe up ahead?"