The Holy Spirit + Church Leadership // 1
Decisions, Decisions…
How do you make decisions? How do we make decisions as a church? How do our church leaders make decisions? And what role does the Holy Spirit play in that process?
From the very beginning of the church, the church of Jesus Christ was Spirit-led in every way. That’s not to say the church was perfect. Far from it! But the Holy Spirit was active in leading the church, revealing God’s initiative to the church, and in helping the church make decisions that still impact us today!
Sadly, people leave churches and churches split all the time over things that simply aren’t that important. I love this post from the Babylon Bee about the Church that splits over a using a Keurig vs. a traditional coffee brewer!
Of course, that didn’t really happen. And we can laugh about things like that.
People leave churches when things aren’t going their way. They say things like, “I’m not being spiritually fed.” “That church isn’t scriptural anymore.” “The church isn’t meeting my needs.” etc.
But the reality is that something happened, they didn’t get their way, and they left. In fact, many church splits are really about this question, Who is going to get to do church their way?
Can we stay united even when we don’t agree?
So, how do we make decisions?
As a church, how do we decide when important questions arise? How do we move forward together through disagreement? Can we stay united even when we don’t agree? Can we worship together even if we don’t think alike about absolutely everything?
The good news for us is that the Holy Spirit is still active in our world and in our lives. And if we are open to spiritual discernment, we can learn to make decisions as believers in Jesus with the help of the Holy Spirit.
This is true in our personal lives, in the life of our church and for the leaders of the church.
This is where the book of Acts becomes so vital. Luke, the author, gives every church for every generation such a gift by showing us what happens when a sharp disagreement arises in the early church.
When the first Church Nearly Split
Here’s the question that was causing a major division in the early church:
Can Gentiles become Christians without becoming Jews first?
That may not sound like a very important or divisive question for you, but for them… this was serious.
Paul and Barnabas were missionaries who were carrying the good news of the Gospel into the rest of the world and people who had never heard of Jesus were believing in Jesus. This is an incredible moment in the life of the early church and the history of the world.
They are going places that no one has gone to before, they are carrying the news of Jesus to non-Jewish people and teaching them about the great love of God who sent His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him will be saved! And these people hear this message, this good news, and believe!
But then, this happens. Jewish Christians come and tell these new believers in Jesus who are not Jewish that in order to be saved, you have to be circumcised, become Jewish, first.
So here we have it, a major disagreement within the early church. And “…Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently.” (Acts 15.2)
So what do they do?
When you read the story in Acts 15, I think you’ll notice…
- They don’t split the church.
- They don’t change churches.
- They don’t stop talking.
- They don’t stop giving.
- They don’t send an angry email to the elders or the preacher.
- They don’t take the prayer request card and write an anonymous complaint in the form of a prayer request.
They send representatives from both sides of the argument to meet with the elders in the church in Jerusalem.
“So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue. At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith.” (Acts 15.6-9)
Now, this is an extremely important observation by Peter. His basis for his ministry to the Gentiles is based solely on one fact: God has already given them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us.
In other words, we’ve already witnessed and realized that God is working and moving in this way. This is NOT something we’ve done or we’re trying to initiate, this is something God is already doing and already initiating!
They don’t argue based on what the Bible says. They don’t argue based on what their tradition says. They don’t argue based on the way things have always been done. They base their argument on what and how they see the Holy Spirit at work in the world around them.
Our Filter for Every Decision is the Same
Sometimes I think we underestimate just how difficult a decision this would have been for these first Christians.
To make a decision that would do away with thousands of years of tradition. To change their position, their opinion, and what they thought was right to fall in line with the mission of God to save all humanity and follow where they saw the Holy Spirit taking the initiative, this was HUGE for them.
And this is HUGE for us as well.
To look for the activity of the Holy Spirit, to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, and to make decisions that fall in line with the overarching mission of God to save the world… this is the filter through which every decision for our lives and for our church should be made.
This is my prayer… May God give us the courage to follow His lead and be a part of His mission in the world.
The good news is that we don’t make circumcision a test of fellowship or a requirement (thank goodness!), but if we’re honest, there are “customs” and/or “traditions” that we have that can make it hard for people to come to faith in Jesus.
So what should we do? Click here to read the next post.
Want more from this Series… Click here.
