Building Unity

Acts 21:15-26 

15  After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem.

16  Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay.  He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples.

17  When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us warmly.18  the next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present.

19  Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

20 When they heard this, they praised God.  Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.

21  They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.

22  What shall we do?  They will certainly hear that you have come,

23  so do what we tell you.  There are four men with us who have made a vow.

24  Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved.  Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.

25  As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”

26  The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them.  Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.

By the grace and power of God, Paul was a passionate Pharisee who had turned into the first Christian missionary to the Gentiles, with great success and much sacrifice.  After nearly 2 months of reading the book of Acts in my daily devotions, the number of new believers and the places where the gospel had spread under Paul’s ministry truly astounded me.  Yet the Holy Spirit had moved Paul to go back to Jerusalem, with much warning about his future imprisonment.  He reported to the Jewish church elders there all that God has accomplished through his ministry.  Then the elder reported to Paul the trouble brewing among the Jewish believers towards him and his ministry.  Paul could very well ignore this report and went on his way back to spreading the gospel among the Gentiles.  He could have opposed the authority of the Jewish church elders, some who were uneducated fishermen, whereas he was a highly educated Pharisee.  After all, these men would not know more about Jewish law than he would! Instead, he submitted to church authority and worked to bridge the gap between the Jewish believers in Jerusalem and himself by publicly observing the law the very next day.  Before the week was over, this decision had cost him his freedom. 

Why did Paul make such a costly decision?  For the sake of unity in the church, he and the Jewish elders wanted to put an end to rumors and lies about Paul not observing the law.  This lie might have caused Jewish brothers and sisters to stumble in their newfound faith.  Paul was sensitive to how his actions, or lack of, can affect other believers.  Paul was attempting not to make observing the law the dividing issue in the early Church, and he publicly tried to reconcile with the Jewish believers.  Today, there are a lot of issues that divides the body of Christ.  What are we doing to build unity and not let side issues distract us? 

When I was in a workplace Bible study, I was witnessing for Christ along with African American sisters and a couple of messianic Jewish brothers for a few years.  In college, one of my best friends had roots in a Pentecostal/assembly of God church.  We had spent many hours praying with one another, encouraging, and leading an evangelistic Bible study together in college.  Almost all my college Christian friends were Caucasian, and a couple of Hispanic sisters belonged to one of my Bible study groups.  After I married my husband, I minister in Chinese churches for more than 20 years, learning Cantonese and improving my Mandarin so that I can better fellowship with sisters and brothers.  One of my best prayer partners was a Cantonese sister, and two sisters from Beijing and I served the Lord closely together.  Can you guess that I am a second-generation Chinese Christian, born in Taiwan, grew up in Chicago area, raised in and serve in conservative Chinese churches all my life?  The bond of Christ should be our strongest bond.