United for a Cause - or Not

Sometimes it seems easy to get people together for a cause. This weekend I saw a picture of the crowds of cyclists at Levi's Grand Fondo in Santa Rosa, California. It reminded me of the scene in Honolulu in September 2007 when I rode the Honolulu Century to raise funds for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Bikes and helmets and jerseys as far as the eye could see. Of course, it's never hard to get a group of cyclists together for something like the Grand Fondo. Just throw a big enough challenge at them, like 103 miles of riding with 8500 feet of climbing and they're in!

You would think that the easiest group to bring together would be a group of Christians. After all, they share the loftiest goal, to save souls, and the biggest challenge, to win the world for Christ. So getting Christians together should be a breeze. Or not.

In Acts 15 we see two examples that illlustrate both success and failure at bringing Christains together. The first example involved a dispute over whether Gentiles had to be circumcised and observe the law of Moses in order to be saved. The apostles and other church leaders convened in Jerusalem and "after much discussion" reached an agreement that faith alone saves and thay "should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God." Now something tells me it was not as easy as a cursory reading of Acts 15 might make it seem. My guess is that some of that "much discussion" was pretty heated. Nevertheless, an agreement was reached and the Gospel continued to spread.

In the same chapter however, we hear of Paul and Barnabas planning a trip to visit and encourage the churches that were founded on their first missionary journey. Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark. Paul, however, remembered how he had deserted them in Pamphylia and would hear nothing of it. Their disagreement became so sharp that the two men when their separate ways. In this case, getting Christians together was not so easy.

If you are a member of a Christian congregation, you may have some experience with how easy it is to get Christians together, or not. Most churches have had their disagreements along the way. Some of those may have even resulted in divisions. If you've had this kind of experience, you may be a little discouraged with the Body of Christ. But Acts 15 demonstrates that Christians have always had these kinds of problems. That's because Christians are sinners. Sometimes they manage to settle their differences and get together, and sometimes they don't. But that shouldn't cause us to give up on the church. Paul and Barnabas' disagreement led to two missionary journeys instead of one, so God brought good out of their disagreement, even though the disagreement itself was not good.

So please, don't quit your church just because there are some disagreements. There is no perfect church. There wasn't one in the days of the apostles. As much as possible, seek peace on your part and continue to work together with fellow believers for the sake of Gospel. In the end, God will be glorified.