Friday, July 11, 2008

Disagreement

After the decision in Jerusalem to accept non-Jews (Gentiles) as believers based on faith alone (check out the “Same” entry in the archives), the leaders sent out a letter to announce this decision (check out Acts 15:22-31). Today, Paul begins his second missionary journey.

Acts 15
36 After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.” 37 Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. 38 But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. 39 Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. 40 Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care. 41 Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.


Disagreement. A lot has been made of this story among Biblical scholars and theologians. Ironically, they disagree about the “sharpness” of the disagreement. I guess the real question for me is whether or not two passionate Jesus followers can disagree on this journey and not lose their way. Both had valid “arguments”.
- Paul knew this journey wouldn’t be easy (check out Acts 14:19 for a reminder) and he didn’t want to be left again by Mark (check out Acts 13:13) in the middle of the journey.
- Barnabas knew that people need a second chance (check out Act 9:26-27 where he helps Paul get his).
The picture we are given here is that for a time it is okay for us to agree to disagree and go our separate ways …
as long as we continue with our responsibilities (in this case telling people about what Jesus has done in our lives) …
and eventually reunite to work together again (check out 1 Corinthians 9:6 where Paul is working with Barnabas, also check out Philemon 1:24 where Paul is working with Mark and 2 Timothy 4:11 where Paul is requesting Mark’s help).

There is nothing wrong with temporary disagreements with temporary separations in this journey. It is the permanent ones that cause the real damage.

2 comments:

lilbitAmy said...

Disagreements are a part of life. During the earlier years of our marriage, my husband and I were in constant disagreement with our parents as to how we should live our lives. Disagreements included where we should work, live, and even how we should raise our children. Eventually, the disagreements escalated and caused a serious amount of friction in our marriage. Finally, we decided that the best thing for our marriage and our family was for us to gain some distance from our parents by moving to a different state. I can't explain it, but I will tell you that even though we still have the disagreements with our parents, our marriage has become stronger because we only had each other when we first came here four years ago and we learned to value each others opinions and feelings. Now, we are able to take our parents' advice with a grain of salt. I believe God gave us the courage to step back from the situation and focus on developing a strong trust between the two of us as well as love and faith in each other. You know, the type of strength a marriage is meant to have. If our parents hadn't been so insistent on trying to control our lives, we may not have ended up as close and strong as we are today. I guess what I'm saying is I believe that God uses even the smallest moments to teach us something. The heated arguments with our parents helped us learn that we were more interested in what we wanted for our life than what they wanted for us. It happened for a reason.

Friday, July 11, 2008
Anonymous said...

When we look at these brothers in Christ I see each of them at different maturity levels of faith. We will learn much from the brothers and sisters in Christ we meet along our walk. What I see is Paul does not see John Mark commitment for the fight of Gospel, yet. Barnabas sees the spirit working in John Mark and feels he has matured since last time.

We must remember that God can use anything to bring about His will for us. I see this as nothing more that it was time for both Paul and Barnabas to move in different directions for the Kingdom of God. Plus it was time for each of them to grow in another relationship to share the “Good News”.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Post a Comment