9 The Great Controversy and the Early Church – Discussion starters
- Meeting about the Beginning. Why couldn’t Jesus’ disciples–His most loyal followers–understand what God’s immediate purpose was after His resurrection? Are you ever surprised by people who are too stubborn to listen to what Jesus wants to tell them? Were the Romans so oppressing to the Jewish people that getting rid of them was the only thing the disciples could think of that Jesus could do for them? How eager are you for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?
- Pentecost. What made the Pentecost a successful religious revival? Do we need the Holy Spirit today as much as the disciples needed Him after Christ’s resurrection?
Compare the Pentecost with the tower built after the Flood. Both events reached up, but the tower failed dismally in connecting God with His people. Why? Can you imagine someone who had participated boldly in the crucifixion of Jesus making an about face and joining the ranks of the early evangelical church? - Sadducees. Why was the resurrection of Jesus so offensive to the Sadducees? How did they see Jesus’ resurrection affecting them? Have you ever known someone or some organization that attempts to ignore truth? Is it our responsibility to tell these people and organizations that they are wrong? Or should we focus instead on building on the verity of the truth we believe rather than trying to tear down the falsity of the beliefs of others?
- The stoning of Stephen. What feelings surge to the surface when you relive the stoning of Stephen? How did Stephen hurt the feelings of those he confronted with the message? What is the best preparation you and I can take when we are accused of wrong-doing when we are placing our highest priority on following God? Who took the place of the martyred Stephen? Did the death of Stephen end up playing a positive role in the development of the early Christian church? If so, how? Does good always arise from evil?
- Changing attitudes. Are there any preconceived ideas or prejudices floating around your church? If a Muslim person comes to your church and you tell him to go away, are you doing God’s will? Do you see more and more racial and religious prejudice at work in the world today than before? What lesson does God want Peter to learn by the vision of the animals that are unclean? Does this vision have anything at all to do with the food we should eat?
- Spiritual prejudice. Do you ever feel disgusted or angry at people whose religious beliefs are far from yours? Do you think as church members we should spend less or more time pointing out the faults of various churches in their interpretation of Scripture? Why?
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1. "Were the Romans so oppressing to the Jewish people that getting rid of them was the only thing the disciples could think of that Jesus could do for them?"
If the Jewish people had not been so angry and arrogant toward the Romans, they would have prospered much more than they did, and their beloved Temple would not have been destroyed. The spirit of resistance was strong in Jewish society, but that resistance meant self-destruction. (Rom 13:2).
In it's day, Roman law was regarded as a most "civilizing influence", and what-ever people or nation accepted it's rule, was advantaged thereby. (The Law of God is obviously the best law, but the Jews had not allowed themselves to be governed by that Law alone.)
And just as the prophet Jeremiah had called for his people to submit to the yoke of Babylonian rule, so also the apostle Paul called upon the Christians to submit to the law of Rome (Rom 13), even when the despot, Nero, was in power.
The Romans would not have oppressed the Jews, had the Jews not been so proud and self-important.
It is not our task to exert our energies finding fault and highlighting the belief systems of other churches, even when they are clearly in error and contradiction with God's word. Instead we are called, not just to preach and teach the truth, but to make it real by practice in our own lives. The effect of the truth of God's word to transform and renew hearts and lifestyles habits, must be clearly seen in us. Constant criticism of the ways of other believers that go contrary to our beliefs, in harmony with the Bible, can be a big turn off and blockage to our being able to communicate the last day messages that we are sanctioned to deliver.
Notice that Jesus did not wast effort to convince the disciples of their errant ways and philosophies about the His true mission, though they were determined and persistently persuaded in what they thought that mission should be. Jesus met their queries and dealt with their squabbles about who should be the greatest with simple demonstrations such as placing a little child in their midst and stating emphatically that no one who was unwilling to be as this little child would have part in His kingdoms. This, so they would understand humility and what it meant to be a servant. He paid little attention to their constant disputing and scheming about freeing the people from Roman oppression and prepared and trained them for the mission field to invite people into the fellowship of the "real kingdom", God's everlasting kingdom (Matt. 28:19,20).
The work of conviction of truth in God's word is the work of the Holy Spirit, not ours (John 16:7,8). We only need to believe (be-live) it and share it with those who don't know it. This is our task.