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Articles 2014-2017
In Acts Chapter 15 we read about a great spiritual shaking that came upon Paul’s home church in Antioch of Syria.
And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Scripture does not indicate that the local church in Jerusalem had specifically sent these men to teach this doctrine; they had simply gone on their own (Acts 15:24). But there was more involved than simply circumcision. These Judean teachers believed that in order to be saved Gentiles not only had to be circumcised but also to keep all the Law of Moses (Acts 15:5). In other words, Gentiles needed to not only believe on the Lord Jesus, but also convert to the Jewish religion. They would need to become involved in temple worship with its attendant animal sacrifices and keep the Sabbath along with all the other holy days and feasts. In essence they were saying that faith and immersion into Christ’s death and resurrection was insufficient for salvation.
While this was theological error, these men had many Bible verses to support their case. Remember, the New Testament scriptures had yet to be written. So when Paul and Barnabas had a major dispute with these men, we are left to guess whether any of the other leaders in the Antioch church did as well. The Book of Acts simply does not give any indication.
And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue.
(Acts 15:2 NAS)
Notice that Paul and Barnabas did not just decide between themselves to go to Jerusalem; it was not their decision to make on their own. As apostles, they did not hold some “position” over the other leaders. Rather, a determination was made as these two men together with others found the Lord’s direction. In fact, God gave clear revelation that they were to go (Galatians 2:2).
At that time, the church in Jerusalem was unique among the increasing number of believing congregations because it was the home church of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. How would you like to be in the same fellowship as Peter, John, and Matthew? Also, elders had emerged from among the believers there to lead and to pastor the flock. As a result, when Luke wrote of the leaders at this specific church, he felt it necessary to mention both groups – the apostles and the elders. But it is doubtful that the Scripture is teaching that generally apostles should be seen as separate from the rest the local leadership team. We certainly do not see such a setup for spiritual oversight in any of the other churches. Everywhere else it was simply a team of elders that gave oversight.[7]
And along with the twelve, the apostle James, our Lord’s brother was based in Jerusalem as well. Imagine a leadership team that had men personally trained by the Lord Jesus when He was on earth as well as another man who had actually grown up in the same house with Him!
But in such circumstances believers can tend to elevate such men in an unhealthy way. After all, they do seem to have a larger sphere of influence. Pretty soon there can be a two-tier setup of leaders with certain ones holding positions of authority over others. In studying the Book of Acts some scholars have tended to view the relationship of the twelve toward the other leaders in exactly that way. But if the twelve held positions of authority over those who were mere elders, who would then make the final decision if they could not come to one mind? Hierarchy always breeds more hierarchy. As a result, many have attributed to James the Lord’s brother the role of senior leader at Jerusalem.
While that conclusion is debatable, another question remains. Are we to view the Jerusalem congregation as an example in structure for others to emulate, or as a unique fellowship of believers living in extraordinary times with the looming destruction of its own city prophesied by the Lord himself (Luke 21:20)? My question probably reveals my own interpretation of the situation. Even if you feel that you can make the case for James’ role as senior leader of the Jerusalem church, it is doubtful that the leaders there saw themselves as building for permanence an expression of corporate life to be imitated. What they were involved in was a rescue mission; the city simply did not have much time left.
Going back to the first issue – had some in the church at large been infected by a practice of elevating in their minds certain men in Jerusalem over others in an unhealthy way? Notice how Paul spoke to the Galatian believers concerning when he had submitted his gospel to Peter, James, and John, men of reputation in the Jerusalem church.
But from those who seemed to be something–whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man–for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.
Why did Paul word his statement like that? Does it not seem a bit provocative? “What they were makes no difference to me; God does not show personal favoritism; they had nothing to add to the gospel I was preaching.” In reading between the lines, it seems to me that some among the Galatian believers had begun to elevate the twelve (or some of the twelve) in an unhealthy way. And Paul felt it necessary to bring these precious apostolic men down a notch or two in their eyes.
Paul also wrote to the Galatians about a past encounter he had with the apostle Peter.
Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
So Paul confronted Peter in the presence of everyone there.
But why would he then share this story with the Galatians? They had not been in Antioch when Peter had acted somewhat exclusively and separately from the Gentile brethren. Paul’s words seem like gossip. Why would he expose Peter’s failure to believers living in a distant province?
Again, if some had begun to elevate Peter and others among the twelve in an unhealthy way it was crucial for the believers to see them as the Lord did. They were not men standing between God and the rest of the Church. They were fallible men like the rest of the body. Everyone needed to be accountable to others; everyone needed the counsel and care of those God had placed in their lives.
Paul was not being nasty or unkind. Nor was he gossiping. But it does seem that He had gone to war against a certain kind of thinking.
Certainly, the practice of elevating specific men over others in a hierarchical way has been going on in the Church to some degree over the last two thousand years. Instead of a simple team of men laboring to find together the mind of Christ, church leadership in many places has seen ministries jockeying for position among various levels of authority.
But has this been a good practice, or has it undermined the expression of Christ’s headship in His body? Perhaps the Church should consider again the words of our Lord.
But you, do not be called “Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
And consider Peter’s own words in his letter to the believers in the dispersion.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ…
The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ…
Peter thought of himself as a co-elder when he was among the other leaders at home, while at the same time he was also an apostle of Jesus Christ called to function as His representative in a wider sphere among the Jewish people. But because many in the Church have not understood over the years the kind of servant leadership exemplified by our Lord, they have instituted the common practice of organizationally elevating certain ones to positions of authority over others.
But God never intended for His Church to be an organization; it is a living body with Christ himself as the head. The coordination and integration of the members of His body is a work of His Spirit and is to be recognized by His people (especially by the elders) rather than organized by man.[8]
Soon after Paul and Barnabas arrived and were welcomed in the Jerusalem church, the debate began.
But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”
Remember that during Christ’s earthly ministry, He had many interactions with the Sadducees and the Pharisees. While the Sadducees were liberal in their interpretation of Scripture (they did not believe in resurrection, spirits, or angels – Acts 23:8), the Pharisees handled the word of God more literally. But even though their approach to the Scriptures was more accurate, they were still very religious, very legalistic. At one point, Jesus even warned His disciples to beware of the leavening influence of the hypocrisy permeating the Pharisees’ hearts (Luke 12:1).
And now here were folks from that very party who had believed in the Lord Jesus. They had accepted Him as their Messiah and had received the Holy Spirit while still retaining their identity as Pharisees. Indeed, God had invaded this sect. How cool is that? But these believers had failed to properly see Christ as God’s representative man who had perfectly fulfilled on behalf of humanity the righteous requirements of the Law. So for them, keeping the Law was paramount, not just as a part of societal practice reflecting Jewish identity, but as necessary for salvation; here was their agenda concerning the Gentile believers. And fulfilling Jesus’ prophetic warning, the fledgling body of Christ faced a potentially harmful leavening.
So if their perspective was that the blood of Jesus was not sufficient for salvation, then sinful men needed also the shed blood of sacrificial animals, the Mosaic priestly system, and faithful observance of the feasts, the Sabbath, and all the holy days.
Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter.
Notice that it was not the whole Church that came together to evaluate this teaching; it was the apostles and elders.
Leaders are not a group separate from the rest of the church; they are members of Christ’s body like everyone else. They are not spiritual elites; they are brethren. While they are to be men of holy character who stand before the people as examples of godliness, it is as they are among the flock that the Holy Spirit makes them overseers in order to shepherd God’s Church (Acts 20:28 NKJV). God grants them grace to see (watch) over the people, not to be over them holding some sort of hierarchical position. And it is only because of such Spirit-enabled seeing that valid shepherding can then take place. May the Lord grant to the elders in His Church the grace to learn His ways of oversight and loving care for His people while at the same time being members together with them of His body. In Christ’s flock, all of His under-shepherds are sheep.
While leaders are to be among God’s people, yet there are times when they must come aside from the church in order to better serve and protect it. Because of the grace of God in their lives to corporately see over His heritage, He will grant them insight by the Spirit and through the careful study of scripture concerning teachings/practices/attitudes that are potentially harmful to His people. And then after determining together the mind of the Lord, they can then communicate His wisdom to those God has entrusted to their care.
And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
The fact that there was much debate among the apostles and elders tells us that some of those who viewed Christ’s death and resurrection as insufficient for salvation were leaders in the Jerusalem church. Since some of them held that believers also had to keep the whole Law of Moses, it is difficult to overstate the importance of this debate in the history of the Church. Dispute and possible schism over the sufficiency of Calvary at such a level of leadership held the possibility of great theological confusion.
When it dawns on us that even the church in Jerusalem had theological mixture in its doctrine, we begin to realize that all of the early churches surely had problems as well. Which is why the apostles wrote letters. When we think we are abnormal because of difficulties in our local fellowships, it indicates that we probably have an unrealistic view of the first century congregations. They were all far from perfect. But it is not whether or not we have troubles among us that matters most; it is how we respond to them. Do we express Christ or our own mind? Opinionated people with the most intellectual knowledge of scripture, if they lack humility and love, can be the most dangerous ingredient in the mix at such times.
Notice in the above verse that God had chosen Peter from among the disciples to be the one to first preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Though the Lord loved His people without partiality, yet He had made a clear choice that this specific apostle should be the one preaching at Cornelius’ house (Acts 10). God loves all His people; but He also makes choices among us. In our day He may choose someone to a very visible ministry, perhaps an international ministry, and someone else to a place of hiddenness. Such choices do not reflect favoritism, but strategy. The Father called even Jesus himself to a place of obscurity for thirty years before He revealed Him as Israel’s Messiah after the baptism of John. God did not love Him less in His obscurity or consider Him more important in His manifestation. He simply loved His Son wholeheartedly. But our God does make choices and He moves according to His own schedule. We must bow our knees before Him and learn His love for us in whatever sphere He has placed us.
When Peter first preached to the Gentiles in Cornelius’ home, God invaded the meeting while the apostle was still speaking and powerfully filled everyone with His Holy Spirit just like He had in Acts Chapter 2 with the Jewish believers. These two incidents reveal that baptism in the Holy Spirit can be a corporate experience (as well as individual) where many are simultaneously filled with the presence of God.
And when God does pour out His Spirit, He is not necessarily validating the theological purity of those present. He arises upon the earth because He has a sovereign purpose. And He comes not as a sign of approval but as an expression of mercy and because the need is so great.
But if we can embrace the truth that God makes choices without partiality it will help us to not be competitive or jealous when He does use certain brethren to manifest His power and glory in ways that He has not chosen to do in us.
Notice Peter’s recollection of how the Lord filled the Gentles with His Spirit at Cornelius’ house.
So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
God made no distinction between the Jewish disciples in Acts Chapter 2 and the Gentiles at Cornelius’ house. He cleansed all their hearts by faith and filled them all with His presence.
At the foot of the cross there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, and neither male nor female (Galatians 3:28).
Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Now here was a fearful thought. Men in the church were putting God to the test like the generation of Israel that had died in the wilderness.
Clearly, the church council at Jerusalem was dealing with a very serious issue. Over the years, because many in Israel had come to believe that salvation could be found in keeping the Mosaic Law with all of its intricacies of law and tradition, it had become a yoke impossible to bear. If someone happened to break even one law, he then became guilty of them all. So people simply tried harder. And their focus became the commandments more than the One who had given them. Instead of finding Him in the word, they saw only their own perceived righteousness or failures. But God had given the Law as a means to reveal not only the sinfulness of their hearts but their desperate need for a redeemer.
So when Christ walked into their midst, seeing Him should have brought a great cry of relief in Israel instead of a heart of rejection. As my friend Owen Carey likes to say – “Those who claimed to love the Law failed to recognize the Law walked out.”
Since only God could perfectly walk out the Law, He became a man and fulfilled it all in Jesus of Nazareth. The only One found worthy to be the Lamb of God, to take away the sin of the world was this man Jesus.
As a result, He looked at all those staggering under their yokes and said:
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
His head was already in the hole of His yoke. He simply wanted people to come to Him and put their heads in the hole next to His and learn of Him. The Christian life is not primarily about gleaning information about Christ; it is about learning Him, walking in step with Him, and discovering His voice in the practical issues of our lives. Then when we happen to glance behind us, we will notice that certain ground is indeed getting plowed. Seed will then be planted and harvest will take place not because our focus is on all the work that needs to be done but on the great privilege of learning Christ and walking in step with Him. And if we try to move to the left when He is going to the right, we will discover that life is primarily a pain in the neck.[9]
Donald Rumble – July 2015
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