The Fourth Wall - Day 9

Acts 15-Jerusalem council
     
Acts 15:4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them. 5 But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”

They were welcomed to the community, even though there was clear a looming disagreement. They got to the argument, but not before they welcomed Paul and Barnabas into the fellowship. I have always found this to be comforting: even if we disagree, we can still have fellowship together, at least most of the time.

I have mentioned before that the Biblical Research Institute has investigated me personally, as well as a few of my friends, as we were establishing the Jesus-centered ministry we called “the One Project.”

I can remember the day well. I wore a suit, which tells you how seriously I was taking the whole situation. But one thing stuck out in my head about the day. Before we started to talk about the theology of Jesus that they seemed to hold suspect, we spent time getting to know one another. We shared about our lives and our ministries, and this set the tone for the conversation to be much more personable and reasonable than simply what could be construed as a theological disagreement.

This was probably more important than the content of the “disagreement,” which turned out not to be a disagreement at all. (For information’s sake, we were found to be deeply Adventist in our approach to ministry and theology, and our Christology was found to be grounded in Scripture, adhering to the great tradition of Christianity.)

But because of the time we spent fellowshipping and getting to know one another, we had a positive experience, even if the assumptions that led to the meetings were wildly uninformed. What could have been a conflict was a conversation and a relatively pleasant one at that.

How do you engage in fellowship with those you disagree with? Do you take the time to get to know them, to share your story with them and to hear theirs? Or do you get right to the conflict, more interested in being correct or proven right than interested in creating a friendship that might transcend the current conversation that you must have?

1. How do you create fellowship with those you disagree with? 
2. How can you find a way to connect before the conflict/conversation? 
3. Would it seem strange to break bread with someone you were about to disagree with, to spend time to get to know them, their motivations, their history, and understand where they are trying to go with their way of thinking?