0406 THE FIRST CHURCH CONFLICT

THE FIRST CHURCH CONFLICT

Well, it was great while it lasted, wasn’t it? Unity. Love. None needy. None greedy. All of one heart and mind. Heaven on earth. Church, the way it was supposed to be.

I have often said that the church would be a great place to work, if it weren’t for the people. That’s my secret joke, because the church IS the people, of course. And “church” and “conflict” go together like “pizza” and “cheese,” or maybe like “sermon” and “boring.” (I can say that now that I am preaching every week!)

So, what happened to the peace? The church was growing by leaps and bounds, and miracles were happening, the Holy Spirit had control, and everyone was hitting on all cylinders. Here’s how Luke introduces it:

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

We must understand what Luke means by Hellenistic Jews. Jews are a particular ethnic and religious group of people. Children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. One of the twelve tribes (two tribes are left by this point in history). They read the Hebrew Scriptures and they speak in Hebrew (or Aramaic, which is like an old version of yiddish). They are the chosen ones, set apart unto the Lord to be His people.

But some of those Jewish people need or choose to function in the secular culture, where the primary language for most people is Greek. So when these Jews go to the marketplace, and everyone is speaking Greek, they join in, for expediency’s sake, if nothing else. They still participate in synagogue and in the temple just like every Jew does. But they might dress and talk like a Gentile during the week. And you know how the slippery slope works, don’t you? You let a little pragmatism creep in, and next thing you know you are living a compromised, idolatrous life, just like the Samaritans or Galileans. Best to stay away from cultural compromise. They act like Reformed Judaism, rather than Orthodox Jews.

I know, that’s a lot to assume out of someone just because they speak a common trade language. But you can never be too careful, you know. They are like the church people who sing the hymns and quote in King James English on Sunday morning, but during the week you’ll find them listening to secular music, soaking in electronic entertainment, eating and drinking like pagans, and in general compromising with the world. So, they are not to be trusted.

One aspect of Jewish culture back in that day is that they were very focused on honoring their father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise: that it may go well with you and you will live long on the earth. It was already built into Jewish culture to take care of the widows in the community, so in the early church it was perfectly natural to care for these honorable saints.

But the Jewish believers had suspicions about the Greek-speaking Hellenists. They weren’t opposed to them, as such. But they did overlook the Hellenistic widows in the food line. So a murmuring arose. That’s what the Greek word sounds like. Some gossip, some complaining, some arguing, it was all arising, until after a little while the word got to the apostles. There is complaining in our midst! 

How would you deal with the division in your congregation? Many preachers will deliver a sermon on the topic, trying to persuade certain people through their presentation. But what happens when the most egregious among them happen to not be there that particular Sunday? And what happens when they hear you, but they don’t change? What next? 

Well, happily, the church in Acts 6 was still being led by the Holy Spirit, so the apostles called a meeting involving both parties. They learned firsthand about the neglect and the grievances among the Hellenists. And they announced their decision.

Remember, up to this point, people gave their gifts and “brought the money to the apostles’ feet, and they distributed it to anyone as they had need.” So the twelve said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.” Waiting on tables was not beneath them. They had already been doing so every day. But you can only be in so many places at once. So it was time to give this over to those who were more available.

They went on: “Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

I love that the twelve knew their attention needed to be in prayer and in the ministry of the word (preaching and teaching). I also love that they required certain qualifications for these people who were simply going to be waiting on tables or doing door dash. They needed to be known (by those who know them) to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.

And so seven men were brought forward who met those qualifications. The apostles prayed and laid their hands on them. Today, we might assume that these men were “deacons.” That means those who serve. 

In any case, tragedy and church splits were avoided that weekend. And the Greek widows were taken care of at last.

By the way, I think it is no coincidence that the names of all seven of these men were NOT “jewish” names, but were Greek names! Let the representatives from the neglected group be the ones who will best attend to their own.

Wisdom over splits. Round one goes to Jesus.