For What it’s Worth…

Pastor and author Kent Hughes tells the following story: A number of years ago, a church in Dallas, Texas suffered a terrible split. Each of the two factions into which the members had drawn filed a lawsuit to claim the church property. A church court assembled to hear the case.
During the hearing, it was revealed that the conflict had begun at a church dinner when one of the church elders had received a smaller slice of ham than a child seated next to him. Sadly, this slight was reported in the city’s newspapers. Imagine how all the people of Dallas laughed about that situation! Such a display of disunity brought great discredit not only to what was left of that church, but also to Jesus Christ.

In Acts 6, the apostles act decisively to head off a potential cause for disunity among the people of God. The church was growing so rapidly (Acts 1:2, Acts 1:15, Acts 2:41 & Acts 4:4) that it was difficult to ensure that everyone was being cared for appropriately. Widows were among the most vulnerable members of society, particularly in Jerusalem, where many elderly Jewish people had moved to spend their final years in the “Holy City.” When their husbands died, these widows were left far from homes and families. Care for such people was of great concern to God (Deuteronomy 14:29, Psalm 68:5, Jeremiah 22:3, etc). The dispute over who was being cared for and who was missing out had the potential to hinder the progress of the gospel.

When members of the church are grumbling against each other they are generally not seeking opportunities to share their faith.
When Christians gather together in their huddles of friends in the church car park, they’re normally too busy to look out for newcomers who have wandered in off the street.
When believers are focussing on their needs not being met, they easily forget the needs of others.
Disunity distracts us from our mission.

The solution to disunity in Acts 6 was threefold:
1) The apostles knew the ministries of prayer and the Word of God must continue in a prominent way. It was to these ministries that they as leaders would devote their time. The Spirit of God took the spoken Word of God and imprinted it upon people’s hearts, thus drawing them closer into unity with Christ and with their fellow believers.

2) The church heeded their Heavenly Father’s concern for the most vulnerable in society. The whole church and leadership responded to the complaint of the Greek speaking believers and ensured that their widows had enough to eat.

3) The believers devoted themselves to the ministries to which they had been called. The apostles weren’t distracted from their task, entrusted to them by Jesus, and they passed on to the seven their authority so they could in turn exercise their ministry as they saw fit.

If, as members of Christ’s church, we feel that we have just cause for criticism or concern it is incumbent on us to express that. But we must avoid murmuring and gossiping and other expressions of disunity. The hindrance these things place on our gospel work is frightening.

What joy it gives me to see believers of different ages, backgrounds and experiences serving together in such a wide variety of ministries in our church.
But let’s not take our unity for granted!