Church Fights Are Nothing New

Acts 15:36-16:5

“The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company…” (Acts 15:39). That’s the way that Acts describes the falling out between Paul and his fellow evangelist Barnabas. Indeed, because of their inability to agree the two former partners headed off in entirely separate directions. This passage may sound all too familiar to our modern ears. Just about every week I hear reports of individual Christians or entire congregations “parting company” over “sharp disagreements.” Such news should sadden us all. Unity is one of the most powerful resources that God’s people can bring to bear in the world today and when that unity is threatened it diminishes all of us. Fingers are pointed and blame is assigned at the precise moment when hands should be offered in peace and forgiveness sought in humility.

But let’s not miss the bigger picture contained in Acts. Yes, Paul and Barnabas disagreed so strongly that they ceased to work together. But it did not keep either one of them from working, from doing the Lord’s will as each man understood it. At the end of the day it was, as it had always been, God’s church, the body of Christ as work in the world. And it appears that God chose to work through both Paul and Barnabas to convey the good news of the gospel. The two men may have differed with each other, but it was by no means a hindrance to God’s will.

Disagreements rise and fall, but God alone remains Sovereign over human history. Does parting company serve a purpose? I believe it can. There are times when the best thing to do is to simply step away from a situation. But that says more about us than it ever will about God. God is perfectly capable of working through the “other guy” as much as through us.

Imagine that!

Prayer: O God, forgive us when our inability to work together causes us to part ways but help us to understand that your will is done despite our own perspectives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Reality Check

Acts 15:36-16:5

To its credit the book of Acts does not present an unrealistic picture of the early church. Our reading for today proves the point. “The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord” (Acts 15:39-40). It really doesn’t matter what the argument was about. It happened, and the author of Acts makes no effort to hide the “sharp disagreement” from us. I think that is important.

I’ve spent the majority of my life involved in the church at various levels and in various ways. It can be a messy place, with disagreements over some interesting things. People get their feelings hurt. Friendships sour. Entire congregations split. It happens, and to say otherwise would be dishonest. Acts makes no attempt to hide the unpleasant truth and as far as I’m concerned that adds veracity to its story.

But shouldn’t the people of God be above that sort of thing? Shouldn’t “church folk” get along, live in perfect harmony, agree on everything? Sure, the church should be a place of joy and of unity, but first and foremost it is a place for real people with real problems—like pride and fear and anger and insecurity. Real people are going to have real misunderstandings. But our very real God is going to be at work nonetheless, and though there will be unpleasantness and turmoil from time to time, there will also be real signs of grace and mercy, opportunities to grow in faith and in love. The church is about moving towards the reign of God. We aren’t there yet, but we really are getting closer.

Prayer: Lord of all, help us to work through our very real disagreements in mutual love and respect, supporting one another even when we see things differently. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Tension and Transition

Job 40:1-24
Acts 15:36-16:1
John 11:53-12:8
There are arguments and disagreements sprinkled throughout all of our passages today. They begin with Job whose complaints against God elicit a pointed response. “Will you condemn me that you may be justified?” God asks (Job 40:8). I believe we may safely assume this to be a rhetorical question. In the reading from Acts Paul and Barnabas have a falling out over the presence of Mark. “The disagreement became so sharp,” Acts tell us, “that they parted company…” (Acts 15:39). Finally in the gospel of John, not only are the chief priests and Pharisees plotting to kill Jesus (John 11:57), but when Mary anoints Jesus with a costly perfume Judas strongly objects (12:11). Then Jesus reacts just as strongly against Judas’s words (v. 7). Whew. So much conflict in so few verses.

But consider this. Job is on the path to a greater understanding of God’s relationship with humanity at this time of conflict. And after Paul and Barnabas parts ways in Acts Paul and Silas encounter Timothy who becomes a integral part of Paul’s ministry. And in John Jesus is headed toward Jerusalem and his impending passion. Sometimes tension and conflict are the catalysts that cause growth. Sometimes transition comes with pain. Sometimes finding the new thing in God’s plan means a sharp break with the old thing that has gone before. Sometimes is takes a lot to kill our faulty assumptions. Sometimes we must experience the wilderness before we may arrive at the promise.

I would never suggest that all change requires pain, or that conflict is always an indications of God’s work. I do want to suggest that there are those times when we have got to let go of what makes us comfortable (or what we think makes us comfortable) in order to find that place where God intends us to be. And whatever the case, as Paul reminds us in Romans 8, God is fully capable of working through any circumstances—indeed nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:28, 39). So we should trust in God as we move along, always looking for the next sign of grace that will remind us of God’s abiding presence.

Prayer: Thanks be to the God of hope, who, even in the midst of the most trying of times, is at work to bring about the divine will. Lord, help us to live with patience and openness to those times of transition that we may also be open to those around you and may offer help and comfort to others as they pass through their own wildernesses.