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Sermon - Handling Disagreements about What We Believe and How We Should Behave

Light and Darkness Pt 4
Handling Disagreements about What We Believe and How We Behave
Acts 15:1-35
10/08/08

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Or else you can simply play the video here and/read the brief notes below.
(sorry the audio is a bit messy at the start - problems at the sound desk!)

Recap – Dealing with Disagreements about What We Should Do
• Faith expressing itself in love
• Seek Jesus First
o Heart check – am I turning away from following Jesus because of…
o What are the essential things that I need to stick by in order to follow Jesus?
• Love Others Second
o How am I expressing love in the midst of this disagreement?
o What are the things that I can compromise on? How am I going to demonstrate submission without compromising obedience to Jesus in other ways?
• Sometimes following Jesus and loving others involves parting company for a time. Most of the time when people part ways it is because of hurt or stubbornness. However sometimes it happens because that is the best way to follow Jesus and love others.

Today - Dealing with Disagreements about What we Believe and How we Behave

Remember that belief and behaviour go together (James 2, 1 John)

Acts 15:1-5

The Issue – some people were insisting on a particular behaviour – that Christian men should be circumcised. Some believed that being circumcised was essential for salvation, others probably considered circumcision to be an outward sign of an inward reality – that a person belonged to God’s family. This had been the case since Moses and they saw no reason that it should not continue.


The behaviour of being circumcised reflects important beliefs:
1. How is a Person Saved?
2. How Should a Saved Person Live?

There are some beliefs that distort the truth of the gospel. These must be identified and corrected.

Paul and Barnabas believed that this issue was critical to the message of the gospel in terms of how someone is saved and how a saved person is required to live. They considered that the rule of circumcision was not something that should be imposed on all believers, and that to do so would give a wrong impression of the message of the gospel. This is outlined very effectively in the book of Galatians. The leaders of the Church in Jerusalem agreed and responded accordingly.

What these people were saying had to be challenged because they were attempting to force a rule onto people that did not fit with the gospel.

I want you to recognise that Paul is not saying that it is wrong for a believer to be circumcised. In Acts 16 we read that he himself organises for Timothy to be circumcised, because it was appropriate in that particular circumstance. Paul is saying that it is wrong to make circumcision a rule for Christians, and he also warns Christians not to allow others to force them to do something that God Himself has not required of them. That would be to buy into a whole lot of trouble!

That’s what happened with respect to this particular disagreement, which was an issue that was essential to protecting the message of the gospel.
Let’s now broaden our focus to look at some principles for handling disagreements which are not central to the gospel.

How Do I Tell the Difference Between A Disputable Matter and an Essential Matter?
Anytime people are attempting to make a rule for other believers to follow it becomes a matter that is essential to the gospel. That’s what Paul addresses in Galatians and in other places.
Anytime people are stepping outside of the clear instruction of Scripture in their personal beliefs and behaviours, you have an essential matter that needs to be addressed for the church to remain pure and unified. The Bible is our common ground for belief and behaviour. What people struggle with is in deciding what is the clear instruction of Scripture and what is open to different interpretations and ways of application. Be earnest in your faith and love and trust Jesus to guide. Sometimes we can agree to disagree while remaining in close fellowship, and sometimes we need to love each other from a distance! Whatever the case, we must be earnest in our own faith and love and trust the Holy Spirit to guide us and those we disagree with.

Romans 14:1-4

Principle 1: Accept One Another!
Paul acknowledges that there are going to be disagreements! There are going to be disputable matters between genuine Christians.

Avoid the temptation to argue about disagreements. Don’t be so arrogant that you think everyone who disagrees with you is wrong – in fact Philippians 2:3 tells us to humbly consider others as better than ourselves! Don’t presume that you know enough to judge other people’s faith. Don’t be a busybody who minds other people’s business.

Romans 14:5-12

Principle 2: Be Accountable to God!
Get your eyes of other people and remember that you are accountable to God, as are they. Be sincere in your devotion to God, and follow where he leads. Don’t get caught up in what others do or say, live to the Lord!

Be fully convinced in your own mind about what you believe and how you should live, then do it diligently, as one who is accountable to Jesus.


Romans 14:13-15:4

Principle 3: Love One Another!
Don’t treat the issue as being more important than the person.
Don’t seek to control other’s behaviour & beliefs, see how you can submit yourself in love to one another. Learn to give up your own rights for the sake of others. Any time people focus on their own rights you end up with a competition about who will get their own way. Jesus is our example of how to give up our rights for the sake of others.

Romans 15:5-7

Principle 4: Following Christ together despite our differences is essential to our witness
The witness of the church depends on us being able to maintain unity despite disagreement.

When the world sees Christians arguing and competing with one another, how is God glorified?
When the world sees Christians withdrawing from one another and criticising one another, how is God glorified?

When people see Christians accepting one another despite our differences, God is glorified and the gospel is preached through our actions.