The Church Militant

First Parish Church
186 York Street
York, Maine 03909
Telephone (207) 363-3758
email office@firstparishyork.org

The Church Militant

February 5, 2006
Rev. Rich Knight

Galatians 2:11-14
Acts 15:36-41

Are you an idealist? I think I am, at least ideally. The dictionary has 2 definitions of idealism.

1- the cherishing or pursuit of one’s ideals
2- a perception of people or things as they should be, rather than as they are.

Idealists have high standards, some would say it’s perfection. Idealists can see it, long for it, and expect it. Cynics might see it, but they never expect it. Idealists get disappointed a lot.

Because life is far less than perfect, and things often do not go as we envision. This is true in the church too. Idealists struggle with the church acting ideally as it should, with Christians acting ideally like Christians.

Well, let’s take a brief look at the Early Church, the church of the New Testament. We often have quite a glowing and rosy picture of the Early Church, as if they were the ideal church. And they were so alive, so vibrant - During the Day of Pentecost 5000 people became Christians. And within 20 years of Jesus, there were Christian churches throughout the Middle East, including Rome.

What a church! Wouldn’t it have been great to be a part of the 1st Century Church? It would have been ideal. Let’s take a look.

Galatians 2:11-14

Paul Rebukes Peter at Antioch -But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, ‘If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?’

Acts 15:36-41

Paul and Barnabas Separate -After some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.’ Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

In Galatians, Cephus and Peter were the two most prominent leaders in the Early Church. Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Keep that in mind.

In Acts, Paul is preparing for his second journey.

I’d like to talk to you this morning about Church Conflict. I have to talk about something - and with the congregational meeting coming up it seemed as good a topic as any. I titled this message, “The Church Militant.”

Theologians talk about the Church Triumphant - that’s the church in heaven - they’ve made it to glory, to paradise. Their earthly struggles are over, in the Kingdom of Heaven “And death shall be no more. Neither shall their be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more.” That’s in heaven. The Church Triumphant. We’re called by theologians, The Church Militant. The Church struggling to be the church in a broken world. Christians struggling to follow Christ, to live out our faith, to be a community which celebrates & reflects the presence of Christ. And it is a struggle, a battle - thus the term militant.

Sometimes the struggle is with the world out there. - people’s schedules, the secularism and materialism of modern society, and things like poverty and prejudice. Sometimes the struggles are out there. And sometimes they’re in here. The Church Militant sometimes does battle with itself.

Calvin Coolidge was once asked, “Of all your political opponents, which one gave you the most trouble through the years?” He replied, “Without a doubt, I have had more trouble with Calvin Coolidge, than with any other person.”

Sometimes the struggles are out there. And sometimes they’re in here. Now Conflict between people, as you know, is inevitable.

- “Where do you want to go for dinner?”
- “What movie do you want to see?”
- “Are you for or against the war in Iraq?”
- “Are you for or against the school auditorium?”
- “Steelers or Seahawks?”

Darryl Royale was the football coach for University of Tennessee. He said - “When you throw a forward pass, three things can happen, and two of them are bad.”

Bad things happen. Conflict happens. And it’s always been this way. Even in the most dynamic time that the church has ever known - the church of the 1st Century - there was conflict In Galatians chapter 2, St. Peter and St. Paul are in a conflict. They were in Antioch, a great city in Syria, made up of Jews and Gentiles, and of Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. Peter and Paul were there (apparently without Mary), and it had been decided that the Gentile Christians did not have to adhere to Jewish customs and laws to be Christians. And Peter and Paul were very gracious to the Gentile Christians, even though Peter and Paul were Jewish Christians. But suddenly some Jewish Christians come from Jerusalem, sent from James, and Peter rescinds his graciousness and does not eat with the Gentiles. This was a long-standing custom that Jews would not break bread with Gentiles. Well, St. Paul views St. Peter’s actions as hypocritical. Acting one way in front of the Gentiles and another way when the Jews from Jerusalem are there. “I opposed him to his face,” writes Paul. And I would have loved to have been there.

The strong, bold, passionate Peter, the rugged fisherman who had been with Jesus. - against the brilliant, well-educated, articulate and just as passionate Paul, who was spreading the gospel like no one else had ever done. It was a battle of biblical proportions. Saint against Saint. It was also a conflict that was getting out of hand. People were taking sides. Paul uses the word, “faction.” He says even Barnabas his dear friend had sided with Peter’s faction. You might remember that years ago after Paul’s conversion he wanted to go to meet Jesus’ disciples, and they were afraid of him. Who believed in Paul and went with him to present him? Barnabas. They became extremely close. And what a team they were. They established churches in Cyprus, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. And now here with Barnabas, his best friend, siding with Peter. - that had to hurt Paul deeply. - “led astray”.

Church conflict hurts. It hurts people’s spirits, feelings, relationships. I’ve been to several seminars on church conflict. It’s not taught much in seminary, but they are the most popular continuing courses among the clergy. I remember a talk on the Intensity Levels of Conflict.

0 = Apathy (absence of conflict, dying organization)
1 = Problem to Solve (people stay focused on the issue)
2 = Disagreement (involves a commitment to a position, sides begin to be drawn, starts to become less objective, more personalized)
3 = Contest - Sides are clearly drawn, not objective at all, lots of personal attacks, focus is on the personalities & not on the issues, clear goal is to win, to beat the other side
4 and 5 Highest levels of Conflict -- Fight/Flight and Intractable - where the goal becomes not only to win but also to harm or get rid of the opponent.

At the higher levels of conflict there is distortion, exaggeration, abusive behavior, irrationality, it’s adversarial and people often go their separate ways. So it’s so important to strive to keep conflicts at the lower levels and stay focused on the issues and on problem solving. - and not win/lose - I’m right/wrong Acts ch. 15 is another example of conflict in the Early Church. Paul & Barnabas are preparing to go on their next missionary journey. Barnabas wants to take John Mark with them. Paul does not want to take John Mark with them because Mark had deserted them on their first journey. Paul’s work of planting churches in hostile environments was very difficult and even dangerous, and he only wanted people with him that he could trust. But Barnabas believed in giving people a second chance, just as he had given Paul a second chance years before. Verse 39 - “The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed to Cyprus. Paul chose Silas and set out. The believers commended him to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

There are several things we can see and apply from this passage.

1 - Conflict is part of life, even church life. Luke, the writer of Acts, tells us these things rather matter of factly. The Early church did not seem blown away by the conflict. Paul and Barnabas parted company. Barnabas and Mark set out to minister in this direction. Paul and Silas set out to minister in this direction. And God continued to use them all. And that’s the next point:
2 - The Gospel must go forth. Even after this conflict the Good News of God went forth. Paul set out and strengthened the churches. The Gospel - the Good News of Christ - must be preeminent. It must be the most important thing. The Gospel is bigger than our struggles, our opinions, our pet peeves and entrenched positions. It’s bigger than our conflicts. The Gospel is what unites us and what we must stay focused on.
3 - In the midst of conflict we must always hope and work for reconciliation, knowing it’s not always possible. Paul and Barnabas parted ways because Barnabas wanted to take Mark, and Paul did not want to take him.

II Timothy 4:11 - “Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry.” Mark the deserter was requested by Paul. Sometimes reconciliation is possible. And that is the ideal.

Think about it. Let’s pray about it.

Holy God, we know that what unites us in you is far greater than the things that divide. Give us wisdom, grace, understanding, cooperation, open hearts and open minds. And now as the many grains of wheat formed the loaf of bread, and the many grapes of the vine came together to fill the cups, so unite in Christ, as one body. In his name.

Amen