Forward Together Despite Conflict

Review

Turn to Acts 15.

Two weeks ago we followed Paul and Barnabas as they went forward together planting churches across the Roman province of Galatia.

They endured great resistance. When they were chased out of one city, they didn’t quit. Instead, they went forward together and preached the Gospel. They didn’t try harder in their own strength; they chose to trust the living God.

In the final days of their first missionary journey, they went back and visited the churches that they had planted. They encouraged the believers to continue trusting God even though they lived under great pressure and stress.

Message

We’ll continue on with Luke’s history and I’ll begin reading in Acts 15:1.

Read Acts 15:1-11.

Read slowly:

If there’s one thing that my wife and I have learned about raising young children, it is that childhood growing pains can be a terrible intruder on a good night’s sleep.

Every now and then, our kids will get struck by one of these phantom enemies - the pain of which I still remember from my own childhood.

Growing pains are real, but they seem to appear out of nowhere and always at the most inconvenient of times.

As terrible as I remember that those growing pains were, I find in Acts 15 something that was just as uncomfortable and it is this: growing pains in the local church.

You see, that’s exactly what was happening at the church at Antioch. It began to suffer some growing pains as Jews came from Judaea and began to coerce the Gentile believers to live by the Jewish laws. This would quickly become a sore point of conflict.

Next slide here:

Dissensions of Jews against the Gentiles - Acts 15:1-35.

Imagine with me that you are sitting in your seat here at church one Sunday morning when in comes a well dressed visitor. You get talking with them and find out that they have believed in Jesus as their Savior and matter of fact, they’ve been saved for quite a few years now. You’re chatting with them, when suddenly they pause and say rather point-blank, “You do realize that unless you’ve been saved like I have, you’re not really saved.”

Now that wouldn’t make you feel very good, would it? That’s what these visiting Jewish believers were saying to the Gentiles in the church at Antioch.

Acts—The Church Afire (23: Grace Alone)

[these men] said salvation came by “grace plus…”—specifically “grace plus circumcision.”

This was ultimately a doctrinal concern, but it probably felt like a personal attack on the Gentiles. It could have split the church down the middle! It could have turned into Jewish Baptist Church on one side of the street and Gentile Baptist Church on the other! But thank God, two leaders in the church boldly stood up for the Gentiles and for salvation by grace alone.

Verse two says that Paul and Barnabas “had no small dissension and disputation with them.”

Disputation carries the idea of discussion and debate, but dissension is a strong word. Other places in the New Testament it’s translated as “insurrection” and “uproar”, as in a mob.

Evidently Paul and Barnabas had quite a showdown with these Jews. It was “no small dissension.” However it went down, we can know this for certain: Paul and Barnabas showed us that doctrine was worth defending! Standing up for and defending the salvation of the Gentiles was worth the conflict!

Application: Genuine Christianity doesn’t like conflict. It doesn’t look for conflict. But it doesn’t run from conflict either. Paul and Barnabas weren’t going to run from this fight. If the church at Antioch was going to survive, there would have to be some conflict and I can assure you, if Cornerstone is going to survive and thrive for another 25 years, there will be some battles that this church family must not run from. So you better know your doctrine. Know what you believe and be able to defend it from Scripture because the conflict will come.

This question about salvation originated in Antioch, but since it mattered to all of the local church, it was determined that a council of the apostles and pastors would be gathered at Jerusalem. So that’s exactly what they did starting in verse six.

Read verse six.

They get together in Jerusalem and there is more disputing. Peter gives testimony of how God lead him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles and how they were saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. They weren’t saved by doing the Jewish Law! Then Paul and Barnabas got up and told how they saw many Gentiles transformed by the power of Christ. Surely this too was the work of God!

Let’s read what happens next in the council:

Read Acts 15:13-21.

I love how James addressed the apostles, the pastors, and all the multitude that was there. I imagine that James had a calm, deliberate, and thoughtful way of speaking. He did three things:

He rehearsed what God had done through Peter’s ministry

He quoted from Amos chapter nine, showing that the Old Testament prophets foretold that Gentiles would also become followers of God alongside the Jews.

Finally, he delivered his opinion on the matter and recommended that they avoid things that used to be a normal part of their lives as pagans.

Now it may feel as though we’re just reading a history lesson on the early church, but it is far more than that. These churches were in danger of fracturing over a doctrinal dispute, so notice how James handles this. I’ll summarize it this way:

Civil dialogue

Scriptural evidence

Guidance of the Holy Spirit

There’s a conflict raging. There’s a debate going on, but James didn’t allow himself be controlled by his emotions. He addresses both sides as men and brethren in verse 13. He addressed them graciously, reasonably, and respectfully.

Application: Sometimes when there’s conflict in the local church, our emotions can get the best of us. Seems like it got somewhat emotional when this issue first came up in Antioch.

You might be tempted to think, “I don’t like that. That’s why I don’t want to be a part of church that has problems. I don’t want to be a part of a church that sometimes has conflict.”

Well then you couldn’t have been a part of the church at Antioch or the church at Jerusalem, because the book of Acts reveals that both churches had problems come up from time to time.

The fact is, every church does and every church will. It’s how you respond to it that makes all the difference. James refused to let his emotions control his response. Instead, he opened the Scriptures and let it stand as their sole authority. That’s the pattern we must follow today.

In his application we can also see the guidance of the Holy Spirit. James appealed to the Scriptures as their authority, but then on the basis of Bible principle he recommended several applications: that they stay away from anything having to do with idols, that that stay away from sexual impurity, and from meat that was slaughtered by strangulation, and from drinking blood. These were all common practices in pagan worship and pagan lifestyles. The Jewish and Gentile Christians were to practice separation and be distinct from the world.

When there is conflict in the local church, always be prayerful and sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in what you say and do. That’s what I see in James’ example here. Also notice what they write in their letter in verse 28.

So follow his example when the storms of conflict arise and be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit of God.

Let’s see what the leadership and the Jerusalem church does after the council.

Read Acts 15:22-35.

The apostles, the pastors, and the church wrote letters to the Gentile believers in Antioch and the surrounding regions. By those letters, and by the witness of Judas and Silas, they revealed the decision and they resolved the conflict. When it was all settled, there was great joy.

We’ve seen the dissensions of the Jews against the Gentiles. But secondly in this chapter we see…

Next slide here:

Contentions between brothers in Christ - Acts 15:36-41.

“What? Pastor Tim, I was hoping you were done preaching about conflict. That’s not a very pleasant subject.”

I agree that it’s not, but that’s one of the main themes of this chapter.

The conflict settled down in the Christian community between the Jews and the Gentiles, but then it comes up between Paul and Barnabas.

Read Acts 15:36-41.

“Pastor Tim, which one was right?”

That might be the first question we ask when we read this, but I think it misses the point.

"It's not WHO is right, it's WHAT is right."- Joel Spencer

It doesn’t matter who is right, what matters is what is right. Paul didn’t need to prove that he was right and Barnabas didn’t need to prove that he was right. What needed to be proved was what God wanted because that is what would be right.

These were good men. We know that, which is why the “sharp contention” of verse 39 just seems so out of place. Reality is that sometimes even good men can be wrong - in fact, don’t be surprised when they are. Good men are sinners too.

It seems that the contention began with several bad assumptions.

They assumed that they should go on another missionary journey together

After all, they had gone on the first journey together, why not this one? But perhaps that was not God’s plan this time.

That was the first bad assumption, the second was that…

Barnabas assumed that they would take John Mark again.

After all, he had started out on the first journey with them. Barnabas, true to his nature, wanted to restore John Mark and disciple him.

But then there was one other assumption…

Paul assumed that John Mark would bail out again

After all, it seems that he quit under the pressure of the first journey, he would probably quit on the second.

You see how these assumptions got these good men into trouble?

Read slowly:

Application: Church family, oftentimes it is bad assumptions that bring good people into conflict.

If Paul and Barnabas could make bad assumptions, so can you and I. Be very careful about this because in my experience, we make bad assumptions all the time.

It’s easy to make bad assumptions about God’s plan for our lives - it seems thats what Paul and Barnabas did here. Maybe Paul and Barnabas going together wasn’t God’s plan this time! Maybe God wanted these two leaders to split up and make two teams! That’s exactly what ends up happening in the end.

It’s easy to make bad assumptions about someone else’s desires. Barnabas thought it only made sense to take John Mark along again. It was a no-brainer! Surely Paul would think it’s a good idea to have his help also!

It’s easy to make bad assumptions about other people’s motives. John Mark left them on the first journey; Paul assumed that he would leave them again.

If you ever find yourself in conflict with another person - whether its your spouse, a family member, or someone in this church family, take a step back and ask yourself, “what assumptions am I making in this situation?” Usually, both sides have assumed some things about the other person. And if you can’t identify what assumptions you have made, then try asking the other person, because they might be able to tell you.

Read slowly:

Application: This did not end up as either Paul or Barnabas desired. Neither of them walked away from this happy with how it ended, but neither of them walked away from the local church or from their faith either!

Sometimes working with other Christians gets messy. Sometimes being a part of a local church gets messy. That’s not an excuse to quit going to church! That’s not an excuse to quit on the organization that Christ loves and gave himself for! That’s not an excuse to quit serving God! Sometimes being a part of a family is messy but I sure hope we don’t walk out of the house and say, “I’m never coming back!”

If Paul and Barnabas had been like some independent Baptists, they would have said, “forget this, since I can’t do it my way I’m just gonna pick up my toys and go home. I’m not going to go on a missionary journey ever again.” And they would have quit serving God or they would have served Him only on their terms.

Application: Paul and Barnabas may not have been perfect, but they were committed! Commitment is almost an unknown virtue in American culture today.

God was not in favor of this contention, but God used it to accomplish His purpose as two teams were formed and sent out.

Conclusion

From beginning to end, Acts 15 reveals that conflict is a frequent part of the Christian life. Don’t run from it. Your faith cannot grow by running from your problems.

If there is dissension and disputation over doctrinal issues, if it threatens to divide the church, strive to have a respectful conversation with the other side, search the Scriptures, pray, and seek the guidance of the Spirit of God. And then graciously stand for Bible doctrine without apology.

When you have a sharp contention with another believer, listen for your assumptions and for theirs. Don’t give up on God and don’t give up on the local church when other Christians disappoint you. No doubt, you and I have disappointed God and other Christians many times also.

Child of God, more than anything else, you be committed. You be committed to your God and to your local church even if no one else is!

And if ever believer here makes that choice today, then you know what will happen? We’ll move Forward Together, Despite Conflict.