Rise From Quarreling (The Church)

Scripture Passage

Acts 15:1–21 (NLT)

1 While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them—much to everyone’s joy—that the Gentiles, too, were being converted. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them. 5 But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.” 6 So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue. 7 At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. 8 God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. 10 So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? 11 We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.” 12 Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 When they had finished, James stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself. 15 And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written: 16 ‘Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house of David. I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, 17 so that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord, including the Gentiles— all those I have called to be mine. The Lord has spoken— 18 he who made these things known so long ago.’ 19 “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood. 21 For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.”

Focus Statement

As communities work through inevitable conflicts,

prioritizing grace can lead us to become stronger and healthier in our relationships with God and one another.

Point of Relation

When I was a youth pastor, I ended up having to confront our senior pastor for something I thought was in appropriate.

We went on a trip to another United Methodist Church to attend a youth event they were hosting...

And that youth event was packed. There were at least 100 kids there.

During that event, while standing around kids from our youth group...

He made a comment to the effect of, boy I wish our youth group was as active as this one.

That comment, as seemingly innocuous as it might be, really hit me hard…and not because I thought it was about my leadership or anything like that.

It was because of my youth.

They WERE active. They WERE at that event as a youth group.

They LOOKED up to their pastor…and heard his deflated comment about our youth group size.

Now…let me pause here and note that I get where my pastor was coming from.

He wanted to see our church flourish and had a heart for the youth ministry of our church.

And I know that I often can get discouraged by how few people are attending or whatnot...

Still, it was inappropriate to say that in front of our youth.

So, prayed about it, consulted an colleague and friend about it

and after a week or so of thinking about it, I decided to send him a thoughtfully worded email that expressed my thoughts

and invited him to talk to me about if he wished.

And talk he did. He was not happy with my assessment and told me that I had mischaracterized what he said and felt.

Of course, I had run that email by my friend and colleague prior to sending it and I know I did not mischaracterize anything....

But still he did not take the confrontation well.

Of course, that was a bad outcome…but it worked itself out in the end.

But I learned a valuable lesson in that conflict.

I learned to take the heat for doing what I believed was right...

a necessary skillset, if you will, for prophetic leaders.

And, even though he disagreed with me, I think my pastor ended up having more respect for me as a leader.

Things to Consider

Conflict is inevitable in community.

We don’t always know how to engage in conflict in healthy or Christ-like ways in our personal lives, communities, or churches.

Some of us avoid or ignore conflict,

while others of us act poorly in conflict and in ways that harm, rather than heal.

Friends, let me first state there is A VAST difference between “unity” and uniformity.

Unity…harmony…is different people with real differences between each other coming together in community under a common cause.

Just like when you take three or more musical notes, each different from each other, and together they make harmonious music.

Uniformity, on the other hand is forcing everyone to be exactly like everyone else in the community in order to prevent conflict or to promote what we believe the TRUE way is.

Unity is based on love and mutual respect…Uniformity is based on quelling all differences and keeping everyone uniform or the same.

Unity ≠ Uniformity

In what ways do we make it harder on ourselves and others to move on from conflict to relationship

(e.g., by requiring uniformity or mistaking unity for unifortmity).

I want to Invite you to think of a time recently when you made it harder to move through conflict?

We act as though unity is impossible in our lives, culture, and world.

But I ask this question: Is it? Is it truly impossible?

Is there anything that would make it more possible?

What Scripture Says

Conflict definitely happened in this passage,

and it was neither ignored nor did it blow up.

What can we learn?

First, let me note that the Gentiles who are the object of all the religious quarreling don’t actually have a presence or voice in the conflict.

This is not necessarily a way in which we should follow the early church,

but it may lead us to reflect on how often we,

like them,

quarrel about people in our church who don’t have a voice or aren’t present.

The conflict at hand is whether new Gentile believers must be circumcised to be in the community of faith…also whether or not they should be allowed to eat as Gentiles do.

Some people in the community believe this is an important ordinance that all new believers ought to follow.

Peter questions how much good it is actually doing

or whether the rule is serving anyone well (v. 10).

For those on both sides of the issue,

the future of the church is at stake.

There is legitimate fear — what might their fears be?

If they allow Gentiles to not be circumcised and eat what they want...

It could seriously divide the church…and cause their Jewish counterparts to question whether they should or not.

Conversely, if they don’t ease up and be thoughtful to the Gentiles,

They may give up and never come back.

How did they ultimately navigate this difficult disagreement?

Did they find common ground to stand on and was it enough to reach a resolve?

Could verses 19-21 be understood as a compromise or perhaps, as James addressing the underlying fears of those with whom he is in conflict?

I think it is both.

With that said, In this passage, it seems like the first step of engaging conflict in a Christ-like way —

and letting the grace of Jesus take the lead —

might include the work of identifying, understanding, and addressing our own fears,

as well as the fears of the other with a grace-filled response.

The disagreement was also resolved through:

A communal discussion with people who have wisdom at different levels of authority (as stated in v. 2),

gathering together to consider matter at hand (v.6),

courageous advocacy (by both sides),

witnessing to and reminding of the Holy Spirit’s activity up to this point (as we see in vv. 8-9, 12),

listening without interrupting and taking turns speaking ( as seen in vv. 12-13).

What This Means for You

Let’s be honest: Conflict happens.

1 John 4:18 states:

18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

I want to invite you all to think of a conflict you may be in right now and ask:

What is the fear that fuels your position?

Have you given the other party the opportunity to name theirs?

Are you talking past them?

How would listening to and addressing those fears in love help cast them out

as a first step toward greater understanding?

What This Means for Us

How might we learn from the early church in conflict as we seek to address our own in our communities, in the church, in the UMC?

How do we dig down beneath the surface of our disagreements to name the fear honestly?

Pause

What care should be taken in doing so?

Pause

How do we develop the courage to face conflict?

Pause

How do we point to the activity of the Holy Spirit in our common life and use that information to lead with grace in conflict?

Pause

How can we be an example of Christ-like love, even in our disagreements?

Pause

Together, let us rise up out of quarreling and conflict,

when ever conflict makes itself known,

And respond with mutual loving deference to others…witnessing not the world’s way…but Christ’s way. Amen? Amen!