CHRISTIAN CONFLICT RESOLUTION (35 OF 56)
Scripture: Acts 15:1-9
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Christian Conflict Resolution (35 of 56)
Series: Acts 15:1-35
Wyman Richardson
Acts 15:1-35
Read Acts 15:1-35
Let me share with you some words from Will Willimon.
How many Christians have had their enthusiasm smothered by the bickering of the church?...These church meetings with people crowding the microphone, bickering over budgets, basing their vote on their personal prejudices rather than on the Word of God - how many Christians have had the fire of their initial enthusiasm extinguished by unpleasant church meetings? Why can we not all act like Christians and agree? Why does there have to be such contentiousness within the Body of Christ?
These are good questions, all! Why indeed? Unfortunately, the Church throughout the ages has experienced a great deal of contentious strife. This happens in our own day, but perhaps there is some comfort in knowing that it happened in the ancient Church as well.
We last saw that the early Church, when faced with a divisive and controversial issue, came together in the Spirit of God to make decisions. We considered at that time the content of the controversy. We saw that the critical question was this: was Jesus enough or should the Church proclaim that salvation came through Jesus and the keeping of the Law, particularly the mark of circumcision? Thankfully, the early Church proclaimed the sufficiency of Christ alone to save by grace alone all who would come to Him through faith, Jew and Gentile alike.
The content of the Jerusalem Council is most important, but the process of the Council is important as well. In other words, we should consider not only what they said but how they said it. When we do this we find that the Jerusalem Council stands as a model for how to disagree and yet maintain Christian character and witness. Willimon states that ''the method of debate in 15:7-21 is a useful guide for how the church ought to argue.'' Furthermore, in the Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership, J. L ...
Series: Acts 15:1-35
Wyman Richardson
Acts 15:1-35
Read Acts 15:1-35
Let me share with you some words from Will Willimon.
How many Christians have had their enthusiasm smothered by the bickering of the church?...These church meetings with people crowding the microphone, bickering over budgets, basing their vote on their personal prejudices rather than on the Word of God - how many Christians have had the fire of their initial enthusiasm extinguished by unpleasant church meetings? Why can we not all act like Christians and agree? Why does there have to be such contentiousness within the Body of Christ?
These are good questions, all! Why indeed? Unfortunately, the Church throughout the ages has experienced a great deal of contentious strife. This happens in our own day, but perhaps there is some comfort in knowing that it happened in the ancient Church as well.
We last saw that the early Church, when faced with a divisive and controversial issue, came together in the Spirit of God to make decisions. We considered at that time the content of the controversy. We saw that the critical question was this: was Jesus enough or should the Church proclaim that salvation came through Jesus and the keeping of the Law, particularly the mark of circumcision? Thankfully, the early Church proclaimed the sufficiency of Christ alone to save by grace alone all who would come to Him through faith, Jew and Gentile alike.
The content of the Jerusalem Council is most important, but the process of the Council is important as well. In other words, we should consider not only what they said but how they said it. When we do this we find that the Jerusalem Council stands as a model for how to disagree and yet maintain Christian character and witness. Willimon states that ''the method of debate in 15:7-21 is a useful guide for how the church ought to argue.'' Furthermore, in the Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership, J. L ...
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