Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 14-16.

Today’s passage contains two disputes which could have easily led to division in the early  Church.  The first dispute was doctrinal, do Gentile converts to Christianity need to follow the Law of Moses and be circumcised?  The second dispute was a character judgement, Paul and Barnabas disagreed about whether to take John Mark with them on their second missionary journey.  In the first dispute those involved appealed to the central Church in Jerusalem.  I would like to note that part of the reason for appealing to the Church in Jerusalem resulted from the fact that those claiming Gentile converts needed to follow the Law of Moses implicitly claimed to be speaking on behalf of the Church in Jerusalem.  Interestingly enough, the delegation from the Church in Antioch to the Church in Jerusalem did not present the dispute for resolution.  Instead, they merely recounted the events which led to the dispute in the first place.  And sure enough,  objections to Gentiles not being circumcised arose immediately, something which would seem to validate the point of those wishing to have Gentiles be circumcised.  However, the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem gathered together and, after much debate, sided with the delegation who thought Gentile converts should not be required to obey Mosaic Law.

In the second dispute, Paul and Barnabas saw no reason to involve anyone else, and because they could not agree as to whether they should invite John Mark on their second journey, chose to go their separate ways.  Barnabas went on his journey with John Mark, and Paul recruited Timothy to accompany him in a similar role.  This dispute resulted in two men who would have covered the same territory instead preaching the Gospel in two separate areas, and in both John Mark and Timothy being mentored to become leaders in the Church.  We have two different disputes with two different resolutions.  In one, the Church debated the issue and reached a decision which maintained unity within the Church.  In the second, two men divided over it and went their separate ways.  In both cases the Church was better off as a result of the dispute.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.