Something worth fighting for

Acts 15:1-4

As a pastor, I tend to take church dissensions and conflicts personally, even when I’m not directly involved and it is other saints of God that are at each other’s throats. This causes me to lose much sleep, causes much anxiety and isn’t great for my long-term health; but for right now that’s just the way it is.

The vast majority of church fights are over the petty and ridiculous; but from time to time an issue arises that is truly worth fighting for.

At the end of the first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas found themselves back in Antioch, and there they stayed for a long time. The Bible doesn’t say exactly how long, but evidently several months. Some Bible teachers put it as long as two or three years.

Then as things tend to go, some people came into the church at Antioch and began to teach things that the church did not recognize (nor the Bible).

(Act 15:1) And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

This teaching would have major implications. Remember now that huge numbers of Gentiles (non-Jews) were being saved and coming into the church. These Gentile believers would not have been circumcised as infants and now people were saying that their salvation would not be complete.

They were adding works to salvation and Paul declared that by doing this, one is now in the territory of a false gospel. (Galatians 1)

This false teaching caused a huge uproar in the church.

(Act 15: 2) When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

The word “dissension” means “a controversy or uprising against an established position” and “disputation’ means “discussion (probably heated) concerning that controversy or uprising.”

Paul and Barnabas being leaders in this church were right in the middle of it.

There are some things worth fighting for. Doctrinal purity and a high view of the Word of God are two of those things.

Personality conflicts, the colour of the carpet and the pastor’s ugly ties are not three of those things.

The church was right in wanting to get this issue figured out, and they sent Barnabas, Paul and Titus (a Gentile convert mentioned in Gal. 2) down to Jerusalem to meet with James and the rest.

May we all be resolved that if we are going to allow ourselves to get upset enough about something to cause a church fight, may it be something worth fighting for.