Spiritual Exercise, 26th May 2020

Paul settled in Antioch in Syria. Although he visited Peter and James in Jerusalem, the rest of the church in Jerusalem did not know much about him. He was familiar with Tarsus and Antioch in Syria and Damascus, his first mission field. There was a dispute in the Jerusalem church as recorded by Acts 6 between the Greek-speaking followers (Hellenists) and other Jewish followers (Hebrews).  The conflict arose when the Christian converts from Judaism, who spoke Greek as their mother tongue, accepted the Greek culture and who had earlier accepted Gentile converts into Judaism. They were most probably Jews who returned from Gentile territories and who could not attend the Temple regularly. The Temple in Jerusalem was not so important to them and they were open to Gentiles becoming believers of Christ. Their fellow Jewish congregants were Aramaic speaking Jews who had become Christians. Judaism was centred on the Temple and resistant to the Greek culture and to accepting Gentiles into Judaism. After converting to Christianity, they continued to emphasize the importance of Jewish practises as an expression of their new faith. The conflict and tension between the two groups came to a head over the neglect of the distribution of food to the Greek speaking widows. It was part of Jewish law to look after the widows who had no family members to support them. The early church took over this responsibility to make sure the widows were well cared for, however, a form of “racism” against the Greek speaking widows meant that they were neglected. No wonder the Greek speaking followers were upset. The 12 apostles brought the two disputing parties/factions together and allowed them to elect 7 of their own men, full of God’s Spirit and wisdom, to look after the needs of all the widows.

From the start of the early Christian church, there were tensions and factions which continue to this day. In this case the conflict/tensions led to the greater good. The 12 Apostles settled the dispute by offering a solution that was acceptable, realistic and transparent to all parties. Their great intervention started a new office in the church namely the office of deacons. In the Reformed Churches, deacons are lay people that serve alongside elders, looking after the elderly, sick and all those who are vulnerable. Conflict/tension/disputes do not have to be negative. If handled properly people’s opinions and views can be heard and dealt with. We should always ask ourselves: How can we solve our disputes/factions in a positive way? Amen