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Acts 14:27-15: 21 Read the passage before we talk.  If you don’t have a Bible near, here’s a link! https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2014%3A27%20-%2015%3A21&version=NLT

Ok, so there is some cool stuff going on here.  I’m excited!  First, let’s notice this phrase in verse 5 “some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees”.  Some knowledgeable, devoted Jewish leaders and teachers had come to believe that Jesus was the expected Messiah.  

They were believers in Jesus.  

They were also devout Jews.  

Judaism and Christianity are not mutually exclusive.  But these men were no less devoted and committed to the law of God than they had been during Jesus’ life and ministry, and they – quite honourably – were concerned that God, and his covenant be given the respect they deserved.  

The fact is, there are attitudes and behaviours and practises that are acceptable for believers in Jesus, and there are those that are not. The fact that Jesus set us free from the Old Testament sacrificial system by fulfilling its requirements, doesn’t mean we get to make up our faith from here on out.  Believers should be really eager to act in ways that reflect his character which was demonstrated in his law.  

So, God had given the Jews a covenant, and he commanded them to indicate their involvement in it by giving a sign of their participation.  That sign was circumcision of all male children 8 days old and over.  This was a symbol that mattered to God.  Read about Moses’ wife Zipporah in Exodus, or Joshua and the Israelites in the book of Joshua.  God cared about this symbol. 

So I refuse to hate on these Pharisees who were concerned about the neglect of circumcision in Gentile believers.  I even want to commend them for speaking up in an assembly instead of just gossipping and complaining behind closed doors and trying to cause divisions that way.  They were concerned that God was not being honoured.  This is commendable.  We have people who love and are following Jesus concerned about the behaviour of other people who also love and follow Jesus.  

Application: First of all, I just want to say, If you often find yourself concerned about other people’s behaviour, go look in a mirror.  Yes, there are places in scripture where we are told to help our fellow believers who are falling.  There are a LOT more places where we are told to guard and evaluate our own hearts.  And self evaluation should ALWAYS precede any correction of another person.  

The fact is, the Holy Spirit’s role is to convict us of sin.  If you find yourself compelled by the Spirit to help him in his work, you best be sure it’s the Spirit talking and not your own pride.  God does use our spiritual family to confront us at times, but if your heart isn’t honestly pursuing God’s glory and the other person’s best interests, you should definitely shut your mouth.  

The number of people I see on social media calling one another heretics and attacking other believers worries me.  Just be careful.  That’s God’s little girl or precious son you are attacking.  Ok, enough of that rant. As Jesus suggests,  just get the log out of your own eye before you start digging specks out of other people’s eyes.  I need to hear this every day. 

Regardless, these Jewish believers have  a legitimate worry, so let’s look at how the church deals with it.  They send a group of people.  This isn’t a closed door discussion where everything is hearsay.  Paul, Barnabus and several others travel to Jerusalem together to deal with this.  They consult with those who knew Jesus personally.  They appeal to those who knew him best.  

And even then, they make sure the position taken is backed by scripture.  James points to a quote from the prophet Amos.  God had expressly told his people that he was calling Gentiles into the light and he doesn’t say anything about making them become Jews.  

Finally, they communicate the decision clearly and to everyone.  This is actually a spoiler for the next passage, but they send the decision in writing to the Gentile churches.

There is so much wisdom on display here.  I love this.  How much hurt and misunderstanding could the church avoid if we took this approach to resolving conflict?

Ok. Enough said. Conflict within the family of God can be handled well.  It doesn’t mean there won’t be problems.  It doesn’t mean there won’t be recurring problems, but we have a model for dealing with it in a way that honours God.  

We are going to stop there, but next time I promise we will talk more about the rules that James does propose that even Gentiles need to follow.