“Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.  They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers.  With them they sent the following letter:

            The apostles and elders, your brothers, to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:  Greetings,

            We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.  So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul–men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  …It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:  You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.  You will do well to avoid these things.  Farewell, “
Acts 15:22-26, 28-29

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FEBRUARY 27, 2025

One of the practices of the early church that we have seen in Acts before was that when critical information was to be communicated from one body of believers to another, the messengers were accompanied by representatives from the church initiating the message.  There is no substitute for personal face-to-face contact, as we learned in our virtual meeting days.  Physical presence authenticates a message like nothing else.

Those who understand this today are the missionaries our church supports on the foreign field.  Living in a cross-cultural context sends a message that cannot be communicated by any other means.  Our missionaries essentially say, “What we have to share with you is so important that we need to live in your presence to frame our message in a way you can comprehend.  The only means of doing so is to learn your language, absorb your culture, and grasp your worldview so that the story of Jesus we share is understandable to you and devoid of our own cultural overlay.”

This was also the challenge when reaching Gentiles in the first century.  How could one do so without too much overlay of Jewish tradition and its law of Moses?  The leaders of the church in Jerusalem made their best attempt at doing so.  Actually, the final decision of the apostles and elders with regard to requirements for the Gentile believers shows wisdom from the Spirit.  My impression is that it was somewhat of a compromise at this point, which was subsequently gradually relaxed as revealed in Paul’s letters.  For example, with regard to food sacrificed to idols, Paul makes this comment in 1 Corinthians.

“Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, ‘The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.'”
—1 Corinthians 10:25-26

However, there was one requirement that cut across every cultural context: “abstain… from sexual immorality.”  This command has been true for every believer in every place for all time.  This vital tenet of the law of Moses was carried right over into the church as a non-negotiable, setting a standard that strikingly contrasted the lifestyle of the pagans in the first century.  Jesus Himself raised the bar high in His Sermon on the Mount.

“You have heard it said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’  But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Matthew 5:27-28          

Questions for reflection and discussion: 

  • What are some possible overlays that our Western culture places on the gospel?  
  • Are there things from which you abstain that you would not necessarily expect a brother or sister in Christ to forego?
  • How can we separate our personal preferences from requirements that are binding upon followers of Jesus?
  • Why is sexual immorality such a serious issue in the sight of God?  

 

Church Reading Plan: Exodus 10; Luke 13