It Seemed Good…

Last Sunday, I talked about being a “spiritual family” as a part of our identity as a church. Part of what it means to be the church is that we’re a spiritual family. Now, don’t picture chants and robes and candles or pious behavior – being spiritual shouldn’t be reduced to those kinds of rituals or esthetics (though those things could be a part of our spirituality). Being a spiritual family means simply that we are led by His Spirit into His mission and empowered/enabled to do it by that same Spirit. (It’s the same Spirit, by the way, that raised Jesus out of the grave according to Paul’s letter to the Roman disciples!)

There’s a great example of this in the very early church that I didn’t mention Sunday in Acts 15 that I keep thinking about. Paul and Barnabas had returned to Antioch in Syria after the believers there sent them out on a preaching tour showing the many Gentiles in what is now Turkey the wide open door to the Kingdom of God. Some men showed up in Antioch who seemed to want to make sure the door wasn’t left too wide open, so they began teaching people there that they had to submit to the Jewish customs first, then they could come in. This issue came up multiple times in multiple places in the early church as Pharisees, even those who were coming to belief in Jesus, struggled to let go of their legalistic tendencies.

This threatened to cause a pretty big rift that could have been devastating, so the leaders of the believers in Antioch sent a delegation, including Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to discuss this teaching with the apostles and leaders of the church there. En route to Jerusalem, the delegation made several stops to tell the other churches in the region what God had been doing. The news that Gentiles were being welcomed by God into His Kingdom brought great joy all along the way.

And when they finally got to Jerusalem and met with the leaders there for resolution, it was decided that they didn’t want to make it difficult for Gentiles to turn to God. Peter said, “You know how God sent me to open the door to the Gentiles… ” James said “Let’s keep it wide open.” (Those are paraphrased statements, just for the record.) And the leaders all came to the same conclusion. They sent representatives with a letter back to Antioch, with Paul and Barnabas, to explain that they hadn’t sent the men who had bothered them and to clarify how there was now to be no distinction between Jew and Gentile as we are all saved the same way – the grace of Jesus.

Ok… enough back story.

Here’s a great statement that is too easy to miss. At the end of their brief letter in answer to the question of the church in Antioch (and the surrounding area), the apostles revealed the source of their decision:

“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…”

We have to remember, the early church was not led by a cadre of highly trained organizational gurus. It was led by a fellowship of Jesus-bound brothers who were paying attention to His Spirit. They engaged their own common sense and wisdom in subjection to and coordination with whatever direction they were sent by the Holy Spirit.

They sailed where His Wind pushed them!

I want to pay attention to the Spirit like that. I want to be able to tell what “seems good to the Spirit” don’t you?!

  • It happens when we come together to discuss ideas with others who are committed to living His Way with us.
  • It happens when we have soaked our minds in His Word so consistently that we can recognize His voice even when it’s still and small and the chaos around us is not.
  • It happens when we stop spinning our wheels and get still… and listen to Him.

Let’s do that church. God has a mission for us that we can accomplish no other way. Our friends and neighbors need us to set our sails to catch His Wind and show them the door is open for them, too.

Sails up!

2 Replies to “It Seemed Good…”

  1. What a good word, Mike! I fear our concept of what it means to be faithful in the church, today and through the ages, is often centered around making sure we’re not keeping the door “too wide open.” It’s understandable that the early Christians were figuring it out as they went, in those nascent days of the church, but harder to imagine how the Spirit might move in fresh ways now, centuries into The Way. And yet, I’m convinced He does. Good food for thought!

    1. Thanks Aileen. It’s exciting to see how many times, both in the early church and today, His Spirit reminds His followers what His Word has said all along. “As it is written…” can sometimes feel like a chiseled-on-stone kind of statement when so often it can be a ‘look at this!’ de-scaling of our blinded eyes. What incredible life awaits the faithful submission of our imaginations to His mission!

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