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Acts 21:16-26 NKJV– Paul Engages a Timeless Situation in Jerusalem

Knowing When to Concede for the Sake of Peace and when to Proceed Knowing You are in Good Standing with God.

The previous devotional mentioned that Paul was hustling to make it to Jerusalem for the Day of Pentecost. And while Paul, as a Christian, did not believe he still had to attend the Jewish feast of Pentecost, he most likely wanted to be there to remember that day as the day the Holy Spirit touched down on the earth and established the Church. Ultimately, it led to his conversion. It was the birthday of the Church. Paul arrived with a couple of days to spare, and he was received by the believers there with gladness (Acts 21:17).

Upon arriving in Jerusalem, Paul connected with James and the Jerusalem elders. “When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry” (Acts 21:19 NKJV). Not only is this a wonderful praise report of what the Lord was doing in the lives of people, but it also provided a positive progress report of how the apostles and believers were spreading the Gospel to the “uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NKJV). Statements like this are important to take note of when reading the book of Acts because Luke intentionally documents the apostles’ obedience to the Lord’s command before He ascended into heaven (Acts 1:8). We first read that Paul told those in Antioch how he took full advantage of the “open door” to witness to the Gentiles in Acts 14 NKJV, “Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27 NKJV). Then, in Acts 15, Luke documented that Paul informed believers that as “they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria,” he was “describing the conversion of the Gentiles” (Acts 15:3 NKJV). And then Luke documented that Paul informed the other apostles and Christian leaders in Jerusalem that “they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them” (Acts 15:4 NKJV) to reach the Gentiles. This was approximately eight years previously, back in Jerusalem (Acts 21:19). And yet again here in Jerusalem, Paul once again was able to celebrate the many conversions among the Gentiles. Then the Christian leaders in Jerusalem revisited that topic that had been addressed approximately eight years before in Acts 15 with Paul, and the question of how Gentile believers should remain sensitive to Jewish believers who were still tied to their Jewish traditions, even though they were Christians. Were they still to do or not do certain things that would keep the peace among the Jewish and Gentile believers (see our Devotional on Acts 15:1-35 for context)?

There were still Jewish Christians who had a difficult time with some Christians who were not required to obey the Mosaic Law, in order to solidify their salvation. Also, they informed Paul that some Jewish believers had made up their minds, locked in their decision, and gave no indication that they were going to change their position, as “they are all zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20b NKJV). As a result, fear had struck the hearts of these Christian leaders concerning how these Jewish believers may feel and what they may do (Acts 21:20-22) when they saw Paul, the one who was teaching about this Gentile freedom from having to follow the Mosaic Law. So, they wanted Paul to make some concessions in order to keep the peace.

This is the age-old question of Christian leaders: "How much are we to cater to the feelings and emotions of the believers who are under our care and oversight?" (It happened at the inception of the church and still occurs today.). How do we find the right balance of responding appropriately (Acts 6:1-7)? Should mature believers concede for a time so that weaker believers may mature (Acts 15:1-35)? Is it possible to go too far with the concessions? And can conceding too much possibly contribute to their stunted spiritual growth (Acts 21:20-22)? What is the answer? A Christian leader should focus on the Lord, fast and pray, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide his/her actions, whether the precious people are pleased or displeased with the decision. It is interesting that one of the first descriptions about the healthy church of Antioch was that they made sure “they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said…” (Acts 13:2a NKJV) (see our Devotional in Acts 13:1-5 pt. 2). Now, to be fair to the Jerusalem leaders, they were also concerned about the number of people who were in attendance for the Day of Pentecost, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are” (Acts 21:20b). So, it could be said that they were fine with Gentiles living in Christian liberty now that it had been over eight years since Acts 15, but they asked for a concession on Paul’s part, just for this trip. Unfortunately, the problem with this is that it was clear that they were primarily concerned about the rumors that were being spread about Paul. And a church leader acting/reacting/working around rumors is never healthy. For if they were asking Paul to concede based upon the presence of gossip and rumors, they would undoubtedly forever ask Paul and others to concede, as rumors would be present until the end of time (Acts 21:21). Ultimately, they were most worried about how these people would think and react (Acts 21:22).

Before we discuss what Paul chose to do, it would be beneficial to ask, “Why were they so slow in their spiritual growth in this area?” It had been eight years since the apostles and Christian leaders settled the way all believers would conduct themselves to give the Jewish believers time to mature in their understanding of the Lord’s plan to reach the world with the Gospel (Acts 15:1-25). There are two possible explanations. Scriptures and ministerial experience support the notion that either they were recent Jewish believers just now grappling with the same challenge that previous believers grappled with in Acts 15, or most likely, these were the same decade-old Jewish believers that were still stuck in their immature state. They had not attained as many experiences of miraculous conversions and had not heard as many testimonies of salvations and changed lives of both Jewish people and Gentiles (as in Ephesus when people burned their magic books in mass in Acts 19:17-20). Should they have been exposed to some of these moments of God-glorifying conversions, they might have matured more swiftly in their understanding of how the Lord was developing His Church aside from traditional, Jewish requirements. We are reminded on a couple of occasions in Scripture that remaining immature in one’s faith is not a good place to be. Hebrews 3:11-14 reminds us of this reality when it says, “There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been a believer for so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who, through training, have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.” See also 1 Corinthians 3:1-3.

Returning to the account, Paul actually conceded and followed the recommendation of Jerusalem’s leaders (Acts 21:23-26; Numbers 6) so as to attempt to keep the peace. But it is noteworthy that in all of Paul’s ministry, he was never motivated to make concessions in reaction to carnal and sinful gossip or rumors. When Paul made concessions, he did so to maintain his effective witness (Acts 16:3; 18:18; I Corinthians 9:19-23) but never out of placating sinful rumors or gossip.

The result? They still got angry.

Ponder & Pray Today…

Reflect on how the conversation between Paul and the Jerusalem leaders started, with the wonderful report of all that God was doing and had done in the past few years in countless cities across the Roman world (Acts 21:19). Recall how the news produced a spontaneous worship moment for these Christian leaders, “And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord” (Acts 21:20 NKJV)! Yet, the scene evolved into these Christian leaders expending time and energy addressing sinful rumors and gossip among the Body of Christ. Consider how discouraging that would have been to be celebrating how the Gospel was spreading to the “uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NKJV) only to be stifled by the need to address sin among some believers.

Pray and commit to God that you will never contribute to disunity among the Body of Christ or do anything to quell the excitement of what God is doing in the Church and in spreading the Gospel. Tell Him you will always strive to contribute to the exciting worship of what God is doing by keeping yourself pure from sin and never being involved in the unity-fracturing act of gossip. Lastly, pray that God would keep you accountable for the commitments made in this prayer. Ask Him to bless you when you honor these commitments and to remind you when you break them.