| In the midst of hassling over such earth-shaking issues as what color the covers of the new hymnal should be or trying in vain to get the members of one leading church family to start speaking with members of another, more than one leader has pined for the days of the New Testament Church.
"The early Christians didn't have to worry about petty concerns. They just concentrated on spreading the gospel. They were one, happy, committed family, enjoying being together in the Lord. The world knew that they were Christians by their love." One thing is wrong with this wishful thinking - it is based on an untruthful, rose-colored view of the past.
As I write, a nostalgia craze is sweeping through the high school and college campuses. Young people, obsessed with the 1970's, put on their father's old leisure suits and head to discos.
I graduated from college in 1977 and don't remember the decade being that great. The music was repetitive and boring. Gasoline prices went through the roof. Our nation wasn't sure what to do with returning Vietnam vets. Ironically, when I was in college, we greased our hair back, put on leather jackets, and went to the hop, longing for the 1950's. Older people assured us that the Cold War and the threat of the Bomb were nothing to celebrate.
Writers who actually lived during the New Testament era also give us a realistic picture of the early church:
- partners in ministry splitting up when they couldn't agree on how best to carry out their task (Acts 15:36-40);
- a congregation full of cliques, each one asserting their members were the "real believers" (1 Cor. 1:10-12; 11:17-22);
- prominent women fighting with each other (Phil. 4:2-3); and
- warnings against showing favoritism (Jas. 2:1-9).
Even in the early church, in an era of great missionary fervor, leaders had to deal with conflict.
Rather than abandoning our roles as leaders or abandoning the church itself, we must learn to handle controversy with grace. And look to the Lord for the strength to do so.
— Steve Bierly |
