A sharp disagreement arose...

Rev. Andrew Hunt, III

Walking through the Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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A sharp disagreement arose...

A sharp disagreement arose…

, “And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

“And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

, “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

“Behaving only in a human way…” is here meant as those who are living under their own will and not within the will of God.

They serve the ‘world’ and not God. When we witness strife and divisions within the body of Christ, the church, we are witnessing some of the worst of behaviors. Any action taken by a true believer and disciple of Jesus that does not fall under the will of God is wrong. Period. Strife, disagreements and contentions leading to divisions within the body of Christ are unacceptable on many levels.

Now we may disagree with each other. That is almost surely going to happen. There is nothing wrong with the act of disagreeing. Sometimes, disagreement, when handled in a spiritually mature way, can be very beneficial. But when disagreement is acted on by the immature, contentions and divisions are very likely to be the result. If the divisions in the body of Christ only affected us as individuals, there would not be much of a problem. The thing that makes divisions so terrible in the body of Christ is that it makes God look bad to a world that already has a hard time believing in Him and most disagreements are about pride.

, “By insolence comes nothing but strife, but with those who take advice is wisdom.” You will find, in your journey through the word of God that pride is something that God absolutely despises. Yes, God hates pride; pride that is immature. The pride that sets people against each other; the false pride that makes one man feels that they are better and above another. People who are full of this kind of pride will rarely accept wise council from anyone. To be well advised means that you are open to, and accept, advice. You may or may not follow the advice.

But your self- pride will not get in the way of listening to advice from others. It is a foolish man that does not consider the advice of other believers. God may have set this person in your path. Men full of false self- pride love to give advice, not receive it.

Some scholars would describe this as the beginning of Paul’s second missionary journey. More precisely, however, it forms the first part of a bridge (15:36–16:5) between events following the Jerusalem Council (15:30–35) and Paul’s entrance into fresh territories (16:6ff.). At this stage, he simply revisits churches planted on the first journey, to strengthen them by delivering ‘the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey’ (16:4–5). Luke also has another purpose for this bridge passage. He shows how Paul and Barnabas were agreed on the strategy to revisit and strengthen the churches, but divided in their attitude about potential colleague. This incident is not a incident concerning misguided pride but one that speaks about adhering to one’s principles.

Let us pray…

A sharp disagreement arose… but it was not about visiting the churches.

Luke does not hide the sharp disagreement here or the sadness of Paul’s and Barnabas parting company. At the same time, however, he shows that good actually came out of this situation, with two mission teams being formed and one team being commended to the grace of God. In other words, although Paul took the harder line, he did not lose the support of the church in Antioch.

a, “And after some days… this is a reference to time and this term is regularly used in that second half of the book of Acts to begin a new section or passage. Luke uses it here as the beginning of a bridge passage which leads into the account of Paul’s second missionary campaign. The possibility of moving into fresh territory is not raised at this point, ‘although the rest of the story suggests that the idea was probably present right from the beginning’.

Went we look at 15:36b, we see Paul saying to Barnabas “… Let us return and visit the brothers …” Barnabas appears to have agreed with Paul’s proposal to go back and visit all the towns where they had preached the gospel and , gives us a further insight into the reason for the return when it says, “… in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” They were both passionate men, driven by a desire to preach the gospel. Driven by a desire passion and driven by a love for God and commitment to obedience.

It leads Paul to write, “ I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (). No one who lacks that concern for lost souls will ever be effective in evangelism. That lack of internal motivation is something no amount of training or mastery of techniques can overcome. Although Paul was the greatest human evangelist in the world, his goal was to visit the brothers once again and to check on their growth. What motivated Paul, apart from this desire for their maturity in Christ to revisit the brothers. First, he loved them as his spiritual children. He expressed that love to the Philippians when he wrote,

, “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” In 1 Thess, he said,

“But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy” ().

You see my brothers and sisters what is often missing from modern-day evangelism is the love for the people. This leads too often a failure to show enough love to those led to Christ.

As a result, the evangelist does not accept responsibility for them. Paul’s evangelism suffered from no such lack of love, however. To the Corinthians he wrote,

“I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me” ().

The second motive for Paul in revisiting these converts was Paul’s commitment to the most effective evangelistic strategy of all, building mature believers and not spiritual infants, who are capable of reproducing. Paul wanted them to become fathers in the faith, because fathers reproduce! His commitment to maturing believers mirrored that of our Lord Jesus Christ who spent most of His time with only twelve men. Paul knew that, as an apostle, he was given as a gift to the church. , “To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

In the long run, the work of a well-taught, mature, spiritually strong local congregation has a far greater impact than massive evangelistic crusades.

, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

A sharp disagreement arose… but it was about taking John Mark to the churches.

God uses the right people, the people of His choosing, for the task He plans for them. To that end God can and does use even the most negative circumstances to produce the most positive results. All things work together for good, for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. Here in this passage we have such a case.

, “But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with then to the work.”

So without a doubt the two agreed on the very purpose of the trip, to check on those, which they proclaimed the gospel to, but a problem arose when that discussed whom they would partner with on this journey. Barnabas, wanted to take with them John, also called Mark, with them, then a serious division emerged. Perhaps it Barnabas was so moved because of his family connection (Mark is called the cousin of Barnabas).

But more likely it was the character of Barnabas to give those who failed a second chance; remember Barnabas is also the son of encouragement. Luke gives more space to explaining why Paul was opposed to this proposal, suggesting the need to justify Paul’s harder line. Paul was missionary and his expectations were more in the realm of one and done if you showed a serious character flaw. So Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia. Look at, , “Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.”

Paul was disqualifying Mark’s because of his early departure on the missionary front when they were last together. John Mark had not continued with them in the work (Paul here is indicating that Mark could not be trusted to finish what he started).

Paul considered that the work of the gospel would be at risk if John Mark accompanied them again.

Paul kept insisting that they should not take Mark with them. Because of John Mark’s earlier failure, Pau had no confidence in him at all. The tough, battle-hardened soldier of Christ had no use for deserters. On the other hand, gentle, encouraging Barnabas insisted on giving his cousin a second chance.

John Mark, often just called Mark, is the author of the gospel of Mark. He was a believer in the early church mentioned directly only in the book of Acts. John Mark is first mentioned as the son of a woman named Mary (), whose house was being used as a place for believers to gather and pray. Later, Mark is mentioned as a companion of Barnabas and Paul during their travels together. John Mark was also Barnabas’ cousin. John Mark was a helper on Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary journey (). However, he did not stay through the whole trip. John Mark deserted Paul and Barnabas in Pamphylia and left the work. The Bible does not say why Mark deserted, but his departure came right after a mostly fruitless time in Cyprus (). Only one conversion is recorded in Cyprus, but there had been strong demonic opposition. It’s likely that the young John Mark was discouraged at the hardness of the way and decided to return to the comforts of home. Paul saw John Mark as a risk to their mission. Luke, the writer of Acts, does not take sides or present either Paul or Barnabas as being in the right. He simply records the facts. It’s worth noting that, in the end, two groups of missionaries were sent out—twice as many missionaries were spreading the gospel. John Mark sails off to Cyprus with his cousin Barnabas, but that is not the end of his story. Years later, he is with Paul, who calls him a “fellow worker” (). And near the end of Paul’s life, Paul sends a request to Timothy from a Roman prison: “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry” (). Obviously, John Mark had matured through the years and had become a faithful servant of the Lord. Paul recognized his progress and considered him a valuable companion. John Mark wrote the gospel that bears his name sometime between AD 55 and 59. There could be a veiled reference to John Mark in . In that passage a young man, roused from sleep on the night that Jesus was arrested, attempts to follow the Lord, and the mob who had Jesus in custody attempts to seize him. The young man escapes and flees into the night. The fact that this incident is only recorded in Mark’s gospel—and the fact that the young man is anonymous—has led some scholars to surmise that the fleeing young man is actually John Mark.

, “And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other”

So, they had such a sharp disagreement (paroxysmos) that they parted company. Paroxusmos means to have an intense volatile emotional traumatic turmoil especial expressed in words. Their partnership did not dissolved cordially at the time but with violent emotion. Look at the text in

, “Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers the grace of Lord.”

The question arises to who was right, Barnabas or Paul. Although the Scripture dos not explicitly say, the weight of the evidence favors Paul. Why? Because be was an apostle Barnabas was not. Therefore, Barnabas should have submitted to Paul’s apostolic authority. Also, Paul and Silas, not Barnabas and Mark, were commended by the church. We know that the sharp disagreement was expressed in anger and it certainly led to the separation of friends. Sometimes disagreements among Christians seem to be intractable because they arise from differences of experience, insight, or character. In this case the partners disagreed about the wisdom of taking a colleague on a long and arduous journey, with a small team requiring unanimity, trust, and mutual support, when the person himself had previously proved to be unreliable in the course of a similar undertaking. Later in his ministry, Paul’s acceptance of Mark as a colleague was clearly evident. This clearly shows that God was not through with John Mark yet. God called John Mark into service in the ministry, by allowing him to write a gospel but God also showed that John Mark not called to front- line ministry.

Paul made the right decision at the time.

From the relationship of Paul and Barnabas we can draw an important lesson. Here were two godly men, loved by the churches, filled with the Spirit, enduring persecution together, seeing people saved, and enjoying an effective ministry. Yet they were fallible and did not see eye to eye on everything. They quarreled and parted ways. Even the best and most faithful among us are prone to the interpersonal conflicts and mistakes. We are all fallen human beings. The ministries of both men continued—in fact, the number of missionary teams doubled! God can use even our disagreements to further His work. Paul and Barnabas continued to depend on God. They moved forward peacefully, even though it meant parting ways. In matters of personal opinion and practical procedure, Paul and Barnabas differed. In matters of doctrine, they both saw the necessity of sharing the gospel with the world. They were united in what is truly important.

A sharp disagreement arose… but it did not impact the strengthening for the churches.

,“And he went thorough Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

After the split Paul and Barnabas never ministered together again, yet we know that Paul and Barnabas reconciled they differences. How? Because Paul later wrote approving concerning John Mark. Barnabas did a great job of helping to turn abound the life and ministry of his young cousin.

Satan’s plan was to hinder the church and halt their efforts, but what Satan meant for evil, God used for good.

Satan’s attempts only served to split them in to two missionary teams and double the ministries impact. Paul’s new partner, Silas, had been one of the leaders of the Jerusalem church there new partnership help to strengthen the churches with few it any conflicts or disagreements among them.

Several years ago I met a gentleman who served on one of Walt Disneys' original advisory boards. What amazing stories he told! Those early days were tough; but that remarkable, creative visionary refused to give up. I especially appreciated the man's sharing with me how Disney responded to disagreement.

He said that Walt would occasionally present some unbelievable, extensive dream he was entertaining. Almost without exception, the members of his board would gulp, blink, and stare back at him in disbelief, resisting even the thought of such a thing. But unless every member resisted the idea, Disney usually didn't pursue it. Yes, you read that correctly. The challenge wasn't big enough to merit his time and creative energy unless they were unanimously in disagreement!

Sometimes disagreements can be used to bring out creative tensions that results in better solution, maybe our Sovereign God knew exactly what He was doing.

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