The First Church Split

July 31

(Acts 15:37-41 NIV) “Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, {38} but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. {39} They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, {40} but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. {41} He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

(Genesis 13:5-12 NIV) "Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. {6} But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. {7} And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time. {8} So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. {9} Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left." {10} Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) {11} So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: {12} Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom."

When two people “part company” it is not always pretty. It can be even uglier when it happens in the church. But it happens, and it happens to the best… even Paul and Barnabas. They had what Luke describes as a “sharp disagreement”. It wasn’t about a deep theological issue -- it was a personnel issue. Barnabas, the church board chair, wanted Mark on the staff, and Paul, the preacher, didn’t. It was a typical power struggle. Harsh words were spoken, they parted ways, and we witness the first church split recorded in Scripture. Even though this was not likely God’s plan, the Spirit of God went with both of them, and the evangelism/discipleship capability of the church was effectively doubled as they opened two separate mission fields. We don’t have to be perfect for God to use us. We should strive to be as good as we can be, but God will be glorified in spite of our personal successes and failures. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

More Than Evangelists

July 30

(Acts 15:36 NIV) “Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.”

(Matthew 28:18-20 NIV) ““Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. {19} Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, {20} and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””

(Luke 14:33 NIV) “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

Paul and Barnabas were heroes in the church. They had evangelized many people, and started churches all around the Mediterranean. But God called them to be more than evangelists. The Lord had called them to make disciples and grow churches. They could have stayed in Antioch, kicked back, and written “how-to” books, but instead, they went back out to check on the churches they had planted and disciple them. They took Christ’s admonition to “make disciples” seriously. They saw these new believers as more than just a notch in their belts. They gave up everything to go back and disciple those they had led to the Lord. We must never stop evangelizing, but we must also make disciples. Saving souls and teaching believers to obey the Lord are like two sides of the same coin. We won’t get our “money’s worth” out of Christianity unless we see that both get done. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

Center of Glorious Conflict

July 29

(Acts 15:30-35 NIV) “The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. {31} The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. {32} Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. {33} After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. {35} But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.”

(Acts 11:19-30 NIV) "Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. {20} Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. {21} The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. {22} News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. {23} When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. {24} He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. {25} Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, {26} and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. {27} During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. {28} One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) {29} The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. {30} This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul."

(Galatians 2:11-16 NIV)  "When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. {12} Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. {13} The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. {14} When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? {15} "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' {16} know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."

Antioch was both a command center and an oasis for Paul and Barnabas. The church there was a hybrid, made up of both Jews and Gentiles. This was a great strength, but also led to Antioch being at the center of some glorious conflict in church history. They were a generous church, sending monetary aid to Judea in time of great need, and financing Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journeys. Antioch was central in the dispute that led to the Council of Jerusalem, where the church established the gospel’s freedom from Jewish law. Antioch was also the site of a great showdown between Peter and Paul over justification through faith alone, rather than by observing the law. Antioch, where believers were first called Christians, was on the cutting edge of church growth. This one local church changed the course of history. Will history say that about your church? -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day     

Grace and Faith

July 28

(Acts 15:9,11 NIV) “He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith… {11} We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

(Ephesians 2:4-9 NIV) "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, {5} made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. {6} And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, {7} in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. {8} For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- {9} not by works, so that no one can boast."

The early church made a strategic decision at the Council of Jerusalem. They came to a fork in the road and they took the Jesus way. No longer would they teach that salvation comes through obedience to the Law of Moses. Many were still Jewish by birth, but they had become something else -- they had become disciples of Jesus, the incarnation of God who came to die for the sins of the world. The church declared that salvation comes by grace through faith to all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike. God had purified the hearts of both Jews and Gentiles because of His grace and their faith. This is still the good news. This is what makes the church distinctly Christian. This is what makes it possible for all to be saved. It is by God’s grace, but it takes a decision of faith. Have you made that decision? Will you put your faith in Christ? From now until the day you die, you will not get a better offer. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day