7 When Conflicts Arise – Discussion Starters
- When Conflicts Arise. Aren’t you glad you belong to a Christian church that never has to confront conflict? Ah, so. You don’t belong to such a church? Look at this quote from the Bible passage chosen as a theme for this week: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” Galatians 3:28. That expression about no difference to God between men and women is too much even today for some of our church leaders and other members to take. The early church also faced conflicts that
could have destroyed the church, but they didn’t. Why not? - Ethnic prejudices. Using today’s language, does our church observe differences in how we treat people with skin color, language, possession of wealth, and other characteristics that distinguish us from them? In the early church, a simple method of expressing ethnic prejudice was simply to give those people less food from the church’s storehouses. Does it astonish you even a little to see that “many believers” were called together (Acts 6:2) to work out a solution? Why didn’t the leaders simply make the decisions for the members? Did you notice that these members all shared a Greek background? How could they serve the early church with earnestness and fairness?
- The Conversion of Gentiles. What was the greatest conflict facing the early church in its growth? Why was this conflict so controversial? Imagine you are Peter, taken in by a vision from the Lord. What is that you see? Wait a minute. Instead of seeing a recipe or a list of foods to eat, what was the message? Why was circumcision not required for these people to become Christian? Imagine you are a member of one of these early congregations. Are you sure you wouldn’t be disturbed by Gentiles coming into your own church with no respect for your lifelong beliefs? How important was circumcision to the early Christians? Why couldn’t they require Gentiles to follow them in this practice? What was the result of these disagreements?
- The Spirit is Leading. When the news reaches Jerusalem that Jewish believers were eating with Gentiles, how did the Jerusalem Christians relate to Peter’s open acceptance of Gentiles who wanted to follow Jesus? What changed their minds and led them to accept the converted Gentiles? Wait a minute. Didn’t many of them assume this was an unusual event that would never occur again? Instead of that, what happened? Would your heart beat with one accord with fellow believers over this turn of events? Or would you feel like turning away? Are you sure? Aren’t you glad we have no narrow-minded, self-seeking church members and leaders today? That’s not the way it is? Can God cleanse us as individuals and our church as a body from selfishness and promotion of our highly esteemed view of events? How? Your lesson asks, “How might we ourselves be holding on to narrow views of our church and of our message…?” What do you think?
- The Jerusalem Council. Time for the General Conference and the Jerusalem church to meet as the early Christian church! Of course not, but what is the importance of the Jerusalem Council? What two conflicts put a stumbling block in the path of unity for the early church? What was the impact of speeches by Peter, Barnabas and Paul at this point? Imagine you are sitting in a meeting and hear Paul and Barnabas sharing how thankful they were for the way God had used them to reach the Gentiles? How does it feel to throw out a long-held belief in exchange for one that matches more closely the challenges and opportunities of the current day?
- A difficult decision. Why did there seem to be a need for an authoritative decision on the matter of accepting Gentiles into the Christian faith? What role did James play in helping the early church reach a decision on this matter? Did God ever have the vision of saving only those of the Jewish faith who accepted all of His teachings? Instead of that, what was God’s desire? Is that still His over-riding hope for us to work together with others who love God supremely? Is it possible for Christians belonging to other churches to have a message that we need today? Think on these things!
(4)
I have been told by someone younger than me ( a young single adult) that she has found more love and caring in a Sunday keeping church than in the Adventist church. I don’t necessarily agree with her, but it is something to think about because I do think the young working singles ministry is falling short.