Led by the Spirit: Journey Through the Book of Acts Part 1Sample

Day 9: God’s Word Spread

In any community with people, problems are sure to arise. This is not only true in secular settings but also a reality in churches. In fact, even the early church, whom we often look up to as an example of a godly community, experienced tensions and conflict. The book of Acts does not shy away from presenting the real problems the early church faced but also showed how it dealt with it sensitively and decisively.

In Acts 6, the rapid growth of the church resulted in an issue of food distribution between the Greek-speaking widows and the Hebrew community. The Grecian widows were likely less prominent in the expanding church and became neglected. The church was now in danger of a full-blown conflict and even a church split between ethnic lines.

The church faced the problem squarely as soon as it surfaced. The apostles addressed the issue directly with the church, the church participated in choosing the seven men to help administrate matters, and the apostles clarified their focus on prayer and the ministry of the word. As a result, this internal issue did not pose problems to church unity, allowing the early church to continue to attract a greater number of disciples to the faith (Acts 6:7).

Dealing with problems and conflicts in the church can often be tricky. Sometimes, in a bid to ‘preserve harmony,’ we may be tempted to sweep things under the carpet and pretend that issues do not exist. Other times, we may feel that greater focus should be placed on more important matters in the church. Whatever reasons we may have, the early church’s example of handling the issue immediately and sensitively challenges us to put church unity in the forefront of how we deal with problems.

Even in this administrative issue, it is interesting to see the kind of qualities the early church looked out for in the selection of the seven: people who had a good reputation, were full of wisdom, and full of the Holy Spirit. As the church grows, there is a greater need for more reliable hands to be on deck. The many parts of the body are needed so each can play his God-given role to build up the church. Ultimately, tension and problems that arise present opportunities for alignment of hearts and purpose so God can do more through the church.

Reflect:

• How do you usually deal with tension or problems that arise in church? Ask the Holy Spirit to evaluate your heart attitudes and actions and guide you to honour God through pursuing unity.
• Any work we do to build up the church is spiritual work, which requires the partnership of the Holy Spirit. Are there times we neglect to do so, especially when we seem to be doing more ‘administrative’ tasks?