Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
30 So 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 believers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers 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.36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 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 believers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Acts 15:22-41
Church councils throughout history have convened to decide on important doctrinal debates that threaten to distort the gospel into something that isn't the gospel and doesn't save us. Satan would want the gospel changed into something defective and thus we must always be wary of changes no matter how minor. In the first council, the debate was on is it faith plus works? In other words, was obeying the law necessary for salvation? The decision was that no, works are not necessary to get saved. The crux of later councils, at least the first 7 were over the nature of who Jesus was as people were debating his nature, deity, trinity, etc. and strong, right decisions were made.
Today, we as Southern Baptists (I belonged to a PCA church prior, and they did the same thing) have yearly conventions. A new president is elected and there is usually a major item on the docket for discussion to clarify the church's doctrinal stance. Lately it seems to be over women's role in the church. Southern Baptists are Complementarian which means they believe in the essential equality of men and women as persons but there are gender distinctions in roles in society, family and the church.
My wife and I usually go at it when this comes up, her point not being that she disagrees with complementarianism, but that the world sees us arguing about such a minor topic when we should be discussing things like sex scandals in the church. Also, she feels that the world shouldn't see us arguing but rather loving and united. I on the other hand feel that what is at the core of the discussion is do we compromise what the Bible is saying because it goes against what is culturally celebrated. My thought is if you compromise here, the next domino is homosexuality which you already see churches weakening on. Satan would love for the Word of God to be seen as culturally irrelevant and full of suggestions rather than absolute truth that transcends time and I see these issues of utmost importance, not that they are central to salvation or doctrinal essentials of the faith, but rather termites eating away at the foundations of the Bible.
So, like Paul and Barnabas we argue because we have different gifts. Barnabas was an encourager and believed in the importance of longsuffering with people. Paul was zealous for evangelism and felt nothing should sidetrack it. He had his chance so next man up. Likewise my wife is sensitive to how the world views us as Christians and how can we reach them when we aren't loving one another. She would quote, "They will know that we are Christians by our love." I would argue that the world will always hate us and come up with reasons not to believe. Therefore, don't compromise on our beliefs for the sake of the world that would come up with another reason to hate us. Win them with the truth of the gospel. I'm reminded of CCM artists who raised millions for orphaned children through Compassion International or similar ministries yet were criticized by secular media for doing nothing for AIDS victims. They couldn't win. Jesus recognized this also when He said in Luke 7;
“To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:
“‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.’
33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
I say, don't worry about what the world thinks, you'll never be able to please them. Just do what's right. I guess I'm more Paul than Barnabas. The trick is avoiding the "vehement arguments."
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