The Church in Conflict February 12th, 2023
Holy God, your mysteries surround and astound us each day. Send your Holy Spirit to open the mysteries of Scripture for us so that our understanding is refreshed and courage to follow Christ renewed. Amen.
Today we are noticing more conflict in the Christian faith after a rather long period of stability in the Western world. Much of it has been brought on by those who want to build up themselves instead of God and, as forewarned, the consequences have been far reaching.
However, looking back in the Bible, it wasn’t long after its founding that the persecution of the Christian church began. The first recorded incident of that harassment is found in the book of Acts and took place on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in that upper room in Jerusalem. It had been only ten days since the Ascension when Jesus had left them with this command, “‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’” (Acts 1:8) And when the Holy Spirit entered the disciples one of the gifts it gave them was the ability to speak to the people of all nations, each in their own language. But, as always happens, some people grew suspicious of their intentions and when they heard the disciples talking in a variety of languages they accused them of being intoxicated.
And this harassment of the members of the church was only going to get worse as Christianity continued to grow and gain new members. The chief priests and elders of the Jewish temple grew jealous because of the crowds the disciples were attracting and they could see their power and influence slipping away. At this time, it was Peter and John, two of the twelve disciples of Jesus who were preaching the message of the Gospel in Jerusalem. And they met with strong opposition from the religious leaders, Luke, the author of the book of Acts tells us, “And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day.” (Acts 4:1-3) Those men of power and prestige felt threatened and didn’t want to lose their influence.
Peter and John were taken before the council the next day and questioned. But God was with them, and they made such a strong defense of the faith, that, along with the fact that many people in Jerusalem were supporting them, the rulers of the Temple could only warn them not to proclaim the Gospel anymore and then they set them free.
But the apostles refused to listen to the Temple rulers and continued to preach and to gain converts and so the persecution continued. And as the church grew and spread beyond the walls of the city of Jerusalem, so did the number of the people who were trying to destroy it. Those first disciples who proclaimed the truth of God met with bitter and violent opposition everywhere they went. Riots occurred in cities where they preached, and everywhere they turned they found themselves confronted with an opposition that was ready to take their lives. When we read the historical accounts in the Bible and look back on that time, it is astounding how they persevered in the face of all that opposition.
And now today we’re going to hear about an even worse type of hostility, which was betrayal from within the church; those who claimed to be brothers in Christ were about to rock the church to its very foundation. At this time our two missionaries, the disciple Paul and his travelling companion, Barnabas, had returned to the town of Antioch and were preaching the Gospel there. Things were about to get rough. The Apostle Luke tells us it started in this manner, “But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’”
This introduced an issue which had the potential to split the church wide open. What those men were really saying was, "In order to become a Christian, you must first become a Jew. Unless you become a Jew, you are only a second-class Christian, if a Christian at all." Thus, they challenged the gospel of the Grace of God, as Paul and Barnabas had been proclaiming it. The message Paul and Barnabas had been preaching was simple: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” They taught that salvation was by grace alone, through faith alone.
Because the Christian church had started in Jerusalem, the vast majority of its members had come out of the Jewish faith. For the most part, they saw Christianity only as a branch of Judaism. They didn’t see Christianity as a totally different way of life following Jesus. So, the problem now became how the new believers, who were not Jewish, were to become a part of what had been a predominantly Jewish body. Gentile converts were being welcomed into the fellowship by baptism without converting to Judaism. They were becoming Christians without first having to become Jews. This was the most serious problem thus far, both in terms of the issue itself and its potential consequences. It involved the conditions for becoming a Christian and therefore the Gospel message.
And in some ways, you can understand why they resented the Gentiles becoming full members of the church. Some Christians, especially the more conservative Jewish believers, argued that Christianity was a group within Judaism, the group of true believers. But now Paul, and the other apostles were saying that all you had to do was accept Jesus Christ as being the Son of God and the Messiah for mankind and everything ever promised to those of the Jewish faith by God is going to be yours too. It seemed a little unfair. And so, they began to resent the Gentiles. They began to resent the fact that they were entering into the church on an equal basis, and without having to follow Jewish law.
But Paul and Barnabas didn’t believe it was necessary to become a Jew before becoming a Christian. They believed a person was not saved by a physical act but by grace. And even though Paul himself was a Jew, in fact he was a Pharisee, one of the strictest branches of the Jewish religion, he knew that salvation came by the grace of Jesus Christ and through faith in him, following his ways, not the Jewish laws.
So our two disciples Paul and Barnabas, disagreed with the men who had come down from Jerusalem, but were unable to convince them that they were right, as Luke tells us, “And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.” So, Paul and Barnabas left Antioch to go to Jerusalem where they would confront the disciples and the whole church of Jerusalem. Paul knew what the Lord Jesus had revealed to him directly. He didn’t get his gospel from the disciples; he got it from the Lord. So, he stood firm. And for a while the whole fate of the gospel hung upon this one man's faithfulness.
And while traveling to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas stopped in some of the places which they had already gained many converts and were met with great encouragement. Luke tells us, “So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.” On their way to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas reported the success of their ministry among the Gentiles to the converts in Phoenicia and Samaria, which was met with great rejoicing. They not only had the Antioch church, but now they had Phoenicia and Samaria all agreeing with great joy about the reception of Gentiles into the church of Christ purely by grace through faith.
When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the leaders of the church, and they gave a similar report concerning the success of their first missionary journey. But some of the Christians who belonged to the party of the Pharisees disagreed with them and said that one first had to become a Jew before becoming a Christian.
That issue was central for the future of the church. To insist on following the laws of the Old Testament would have meant that a person had to become a Jew before they would be accepted as a Christian. And it would have made Christianity a sect within the Jewish religion. But even more important the issue cut to the central belief of the Christian church. On what is our salvation based? Is it based on Christ alone? Is Christ’s death on the cross sufficient or do we also have to follow rules to be saved?
Next week we’ll see how Paul addresses this issue which had the potential to split the church right down the middle. And isn’t it disagreements like this which have plagued our church down through the ages. This fighting amongst ourselves began only a few years after the founding of Christianity and it still continues on today. In many ways we are our own worse enemies, it just seems that forces are always working against us to try to divide and conquer. And the worst part is that most of the disagreements are based on manmade ideas, things which aren’t clearly found in the Bible. Yet, in our stubbornness we won’t just let them go. How foolish people can be, wasting time building up barriers, rather than breaking them down. Jesus warned us about this many times, and it is our duty as Christians to follow his way if we are to lead others away from worldly conflict and towards the everlasting love of God.
Let us Pray:
Heavenly Father, you have offered us salvation and have called out people from every part of the globe. We pray for unity between all Christians. As persecution, troubles, and dangers come, may we be aware of how we can pray, love, and support one another. Our bond in Christ goes beyond cultures, borders, and nationalities: we have a citizenship in heaven. We pray for unity across all believers as we seek to proclaim you to the nations. In Jesus name we pray. Amen