daily java

Daily Java:

But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. (Acts 6:1)

The early church was going great. People were bring brought to the Lord and baptized. Lots of things were happening, including miracles and healings.

But there was a problem. The conservative side of the church was hogging all of the food set aside for the widows. The progressive side was getting shorted in the “Meals on Wheels” area.

The conservatives were also called the Hebrew-speaking believers. They were conservative and kept all of the old customs, dietary restrictions and dress fashion.

The progressive, or liberal side were more modern in their dress. They shaved their beards and got haircuts and wore Romans style clothing. They were also not as careful not to eat “unclean” food. They had decided that those things were for the Jews, not for the new Christians.

But, as yet, they did not have the political power in the church. The conservatives, which included many of the apostles, were not being fair to them when it came to helping their widows and needy.

So rumblings of discontent came up and began to threaten the unity of the church. Nothing makes things worse in a church than a bunch of unsatisfied people. The church can be torn up if you are not careful.

So the apostles had to deal with it. They were busy teaching the new church things they needed to know to be in Christ and didn’t have time to make sure food went in the right direction.

They had to do something good. So to do so, they chose a committee of mostly liberal members to help make sure things were fair. And it worked fine. Both sides of the early church were happy and unity was restored. One of the men chosen was Stephen who went on to become the first recorded Christian martyr.

Any church, no matter how happy or unified it can be can have trouble. When it does, it has to deal with it right away. If it doesn’t, it can be hurt.

And nothing makes people more unhappy than the idea that they are being ignored, that they are being minimized. Disrespect, whether real or perceived, makes people mad. But on the other hand, the church is not here to make us feel good, but to bring God through us into the world.

In the early church, the apostles were guided by God to do what was necessary to help people find God in their lives. This wasn’t some hare-brained thing or some personal opinion someone came up with. This was a real problem. And God dealt with it through his pastors, the apostles.

We know that everything that happens in a church is not necessarily going to make us happy, but we can know that harmony is possible, if we all agree to do what God said, and not just follow our own opinions.

daily java

Daily Java:

You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure. You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. (1 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

There are some churches who are balms to weary preachers. When they go there, they feel good and loved.

Unfortunately, churches will slice a minister up. Their ideas of what church ought to be like and his are different and rather than give in or even compromise, they will eviscerate him and even his family. Many a good man, one ordained by God, has left the ministry because a church has just cut them to pieces.

Why this is, I really do not know. And after almost forty years of preaching, I still do not truly understand it. I mean, I understand the basic principles, the idea of who is in control, whose idea of ”church”  is supposed to be dominant, all that. And there are people who wan their idea of “church” to be dominant to the point that they will tear the church up to get it.

It was the same all though the Bible. God sends his prophet to a group of people who have already decided how things ought to go. He preaches God’s word and people sometimes even kill him to make him shut up.

They have made up their minds and no one, not even God, will tell them otherwise.

But then you see churches that have had a pastor for a long time. They are a happy church, one which seems to be doing things and accomplishing a lot for the Lord. The pastor is happy, the church is happy.

Of course, there are problems. There always are when there are people involved, but some churches seem to be able to work it out.

Other churches go through pastor after pastor, always looking for “the right man” and never finding him.

It is like an many times married woman who cannot find a “good husband” or a man who has been married a lot who feels he has to go out of country for a wife because there are no good women around here.

It is not that there are no good men or women to marry, it is that they are all marrying you. You are the constant in that situation. A church that goes through pastor after pastor has a real problem. And if they have left a trail of disillusioned pastors, they need to quit and die as a church. They are doing far more harm to the kingdom of God by existing than they are helping.

The apostle Paul was glad for the Thessalonian church. He had come there hurt and they healed him. That is a good church.

May God give us more like that. And may God close those who are harmful.