Acts in 28 DaysSample

Acts 15: 1 - 35

Take a moment to think about how your family or your church deals with conflict or disagreement. It might be that people get upset and start shouting. Or maybe it’s the opposite and people just ignore conflict and act like nothing has happened. Dealing with disagreement, especially in a community of Jesus followers, is always difficult.

Acts 15 is an immensely important chapter, not just for you personally, but also for the different communities of Jesus followers around the world. In it, we get a sneak peek into how conflicts and disagreements were handled in the early church. This may have been unfamiliar territory for the now international Jesus movement, as more Gentiles have joined the church, and this has brought up new questions. Let's have a look.

In the first 3 verses, the conflict is laid out. Should Gentile believers follow the law of Moses? Some folks think they should. Paul and Barnabas disagree. Hence, we have a heated discussion. No consensus is being reached, so the question is moved up the chain of command, so to speak, to the council in Jerusalem.

More heated discussions follow. Both Peter and James give good reasons for their viewpoints, and the other apostles and elders clearly agree: Gentiles do not have to keep the law of Moses. A letter is written up with the final answer (no emails in those days) and is sent to Antioch.

In the letter with the answer, which is read to the church, it says something amazing; “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” (verse 28). In the earlier verses, there is no mention of the Holy Spirit at all. What is going on?

Healthy debate and disagreement are often part of following Jesus. In this situation, they sensed that they were in line with the Holy Spirit, so they moved forward with their plan! Agreement is obtained through aligning yourself with God, talking with one another in community, and finding common ground. In the end, everyone seemed to listen and accept their leaders’ decision, or at least that’s what we read in verse 31.

One final thought: surprisingly, there is no mention of how the men who disagreed with Paul and Barnabas in the first place responded to the letter from the Jerusalem council. At the same time, no one calls them false teachers or criticises them. This provides a wonderful model of how to engage in healthy debate within the church and be at peace with one another no matter the outcome.

GO DEEP

Disagreement is never easy, especially when it involves questions of faith. When was the last time you disagreed with someone? How did you handle it? Did you feel, like these early church leaders, that the Spirit was in the midst of your discussion?

BE BOLD

If in the past you have had disagreements about your faith which didn’t end well, ask your heavenly Father how to respond in love. Be encouraged to start conversations with fellow believers about your faith, especially the things that you don’t understand. That’s how we grow, in community and under the invisible guidance of the Spirit.

MEMORISE IT

“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements” - Acts 15:28