By Jessica Patchett
“There’s no mean like church mean.” Church people have been known to fight dirtier than guests on the Jerry Springer Show. I've seen people who “pass the peace” in the pews exchange hate-filled words over matters as benign and ironic as where the ceramic angels should be placed for Christmas.
Why do people who gather in the name of the Prince of Peace devolve into division and derision? Perhaps it’s because when we act in Jesus’ name, for God’s mission of salvation in the world, everything takes on ultimate importance. We lend credibility to or detract creditability from the gospel with everything we do and say, including, as it were, how we treat one another when we disagree.
So when it feels like our part in the world’s salvation is at stake, how do people of good faith fight fair? Paul and Barnabas’ visit with the Jerusalem Council offers us a few ideas:
- Reflect on what’s really at stake. For Paul and Barnabas, the conflict hinges on what or who makes Gentile converts full members of the people of God. For the Pharisee converts, the conflict centers on how the people of God would retain a unique, God-honoring identity in the world.
- Reflect on what’s really at stake. Peter reminds the people that God gave each of them the Holy Spirit and made them God’s people, just as God was doing for Gentile converts. It’s God, not rituals or behaviors, that saves people.
- Reflect on what’s really at stake. James reminds the people that they should make it easier, not harder for people to turn to God. This is the purpose for which God called the Hebrew people and sent Jesus Christ, and for which God was now sending the apostles: to turn people toward God.
- Make a decision that honors what’s at stake and all involved: Gentile converts need not be circumcised and required to uphold Mosaic Law, but should maintain three practices that will help the people of God maintain a distinctive identity.
- What gives the people of God a distinctive identity? Is it the same in every time and place? Has it been the same for you throughout your entire life?
- What would you be willing to sacrifice in order to remain a part of God’s people and on God’s mission in the world?
- Read Jeremiah 31:27-34. How does what’s happening in the apostles’ mission seem to fulfill these promises of God? How have you experienced knowing God directly? What has God written on your heart?
Prayer: Gracious God, you have written on our hearts and on the hearts of countless men and women throughout time and throughout the world. Help us to honor all the beautiful and diverse things you have written on our hearts. Help us to honor the hearts of every person you have touched. Amen.
