Thoughts on Acts 15

"Sounds like a Baptist church!" was the immediate response after we read the chapter in prayer meeting last night.

Yes, it is true if you have been in church (Baptist or other) very long, conflict that grinds church life to a halt certainly can sound all too familiar.  But there is a distinction here....this squabble mattered!  The charge against the modern church will not be that we fight too much, but that we fight about the wrong things.

Truth be told, nothing is as likely to cause as much conflict as discussing what are the right things to fight about.  

Three Reasons the Conflict Mattered

1.  It impacted the mission of the church.

Paul and Barnabas had just returned from a mission trip that bore much fruit among the Gentiles.  Would this need to be curtailed?

2.  It impacted the fellowship of the church.

Could the growing Gentile branch of the church share "the pew", the table and the life with the existing Jewish branch of the table?  Would the Gospel divide or disarm?

3.  It impacted the theology of the church.

As large as the above items are, this one mattered most.  What does it take to be saved?  Grace or something like grace plus a few other things?

In the end they choose mission, fellowship and grace.

The role of leadership is fascinating the chapter.

Paul and Barnabas appear before the apostles and the elders of the church.  At this point there is no definition of an elder in the church.  Instead of reading our own preferences into the text I think it is safe to consider the elders as any loosely defined, but easy to identify church leader who was not one of the twelve.

Peter's testimony in the debate is very important.  But it is not the final word.  That belongs to James, the brother of Jesus.  This really puts a hole in the idea that Peter carried a particular authority or would have authority to pass down to others.  

They come to a strong conclusion.

Too often local churches and denominations address conflict by trying reduce the heat and not actually address the issue at hand.  There is a desire to avoid the kind of hurt feelings and broken fellowship that clear winners and losers tend to cause.

Not so here

"The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. ²⁴Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, ²⁵it has seemed good to us, having come beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶ men who have to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ."

 But their clarity may be just what saved the unity of the church.

A surprise at the end...

After celebrating the success of navigating of the above conflict we are suddenly faced with another conflict.

This one is interpersonal.  I feel deeply conflicted watching two of my New Testament heroes, Paul and Barnabas unable to work together.

Some conflicts are not easily addressed.  In this case I can see the merits of both men's positions.  Which is likely why it was never fully resolved.

But fast forward and we see Paul's later value of John Mark's ministry.  And just as significantly we notice that Luke, so deeply influenced by Paul casts Barnabas in the most favorable lights throughout the book of Acts.  There is something very rich in this.

There are times division will come and maybe even needs to come.  But grace can still abound.