Conflict in the Church: The Uncomfortable Reality

 

Conflict Between Spiritual Leaders

The first type of conflict that we will consider is probably the most disturbing and perhaps also the most disappointing. I am referring to conflict between church leaders. Spiritual leaders are typically people of mature Christian experience, who are knowledgeable of the Scriptures and, according to the New Testament pattern, are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Stated differently, they are people of high spiritual standards. Since this is so, we expect good things from them, and conflict is not one of them. In view of the fact that they are using the same Bible and are partakers of the same Holy Spirit it seems logical to think that they would always agree, right? Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The text we will use for our discussion of this type of conflict is Acts 15:36-41.

In this passage we read about a conflict between Paul and Barnabas. This turn of events is a bit of a surprise in view of the two people involved and their history together. They came from different places, Paul came from Tarsus in Cilicia (Acts 22:3) and Barnabas came from the Island of Cyprus (Acts 4:36) but they had a lot of things in common: both were men, both were Jewish (Phil. 3:5; Acts 4:26), both were Christians, both were apostles (Acts 14:14), and both were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17; 11:24). These men had similar Christian experiences and ministries. In addition, Paul and Barnabas had a significant history of working together. As co-workers they taught the church in Antioch for a year (Acts 11:25-26), they went on a missionary journey together (Acts 13-14), and they traveled together to the Council in Jerusalem and spoke there (Acts 15:2, 12). Paul was in some sense in Barnabas’s debt in that Barnabas helped the new believer Paul gain acceptance in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 9:26-28). Barnabas was also the person who enlisted Paul to teach in the church in Antioch (Acts 11:25-26). Paul’s acceptance by the church and participation in ministry were in some measure due to Barnabas’ influence. It is clear from other texts in the New Testament that Barnabas was respected in the early church. For example, he was the one sent from the Jerusalem church to see what God was doing in Antioch (Acts 11:22). There is no question that Paul was also well regarded in the church (Acts 15:25; Gal. 2:9). So how is it that such quality people had a falling out? Acts 15:39 says, “They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company” (NIV). What precipitated this severe conflict that caused these friends and coworkers to part company? Let us turn to the text to answer this question.

Acts 15:37-38 tells us that they were divided about a man named John Mark. This man had been with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey but had left them (Acts 13:13). The reason for his departure is not specified. John Stott says concerning this text, “Luke announces the fact in a matter-of-fact manner and appears to apportion no blame.”³ However, Stott goes on to point out that in Acts 15:38 John Mark’s departure is not seen in a favorable light in that the text says that he “deserted” Paul and Barnabas.⁴ We cannot say with certainty why he left because the Bible does not tell us. What we do know is that this issue had a family dynamic to it; John Mark was a cousin to Barnabas (Col. 4:10).

All Christians are part of the “family of believers” (Gal. 6:10, NIV); through the blood of Jesus we have all become brothers and sisters in the Lord. But some members of the family of believers are actually blood relatives. Never minimize the significance of this, for whether intentionally or not, this dynamic can exert great influence on decisions in the context of the church. I have seen it happen more than once.

I am not suggesting that either Paul or Barnabas had ill motives in this disagreement in Acts 15, not at all. I think that both genuinely wanted to honor and serve the Lord, but they had different ideas about what would be the most productive way to achieve these ends. Paul was a man of high standards. He had them for himself, and I am sure he had them for others as well. This being the case, John Mark did not rank very high on Paul’s list at the time because of his previous desertion of the missionary team. This does not mean that John Mark was a bad person; he just did not measure up to Paul’s standards or expectations. Barnabas, on the other hand, was an encourager. He encouraged Paul shortly after he had become a follower of Jesus and he encouraged the new believers in the church at Antioch (Acts 11:22-23). This was his lifestyle. He was one who was willing to give another the benefit of the doubt. He was probably even more willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt if the person was a relative, such as his cousin, John Mark.

As Christians we know that our character is to be like the Lord’s and one of His character traits is being impartial (James 2:1). However, being impartial is often more difficult than we think. There are things that impact our decision-making processes and thus, our choices, things like who we are and who the other people involved are. In reality, few, if any of us, are totally unbiased. We need to recognize this both in ourselves and also in others. These are the realities of life, even in the church.

So who was wrong in this case Paul or Barnabas? I used to think that Paul was in error here. However, this is not an easy question to answer, for two reasons. First, the issue is not a moral issue. That is, there is no direct commandment in Scripture that has been violated here. Second, the Bible does not give us a definitive answer. Regarding this parting of the ways in Acts 15, New Testament scholar, Craig Keener, has written “Luke surely intends us to see the Lord’s blessing on the new Paul-Silas team (Acts 15:40; 16:37) but this does not signal his approval of the dispute between Paul and Barnabas, handled so unlike the council in 15:22.”⁵ Both Barnabas and Paul experienced the same desertion by John Mark but they had differing opinions about how to go on from there. It seems that Paul later made peace with John Mark. Walter L. Liefeld points out in his comments on 2 Timothy 4:11 that there must have been a change in Paul, Mark, or both of them so that Paul once again trusted him as an associate in the apostle’s ministry.⁶

Tags: church, conflict, featured, reality, uncomfortable

Category: Ministry, Winter 2016