Decision Making and the Will of God
The following is a sermon I gave on decision making and cancel culture…
Interruptions and Invitations
A few years ago, Hamilton the Broadway musical gained the national spotlight because of its excellent music and the age-old story it retold. See, Alexander Hamilton is known for his early leadership in the United States; but he’s remembered primarily for political rivalry with Aaron Burr. Hamilton and Burr campaigned against one another on numerous occasions, but eventually their disagreement came to a head when Burr took Hamilton’s actions as an affront to his honor and demanded that he apologize. Hamilton refused, and after several confrontations, Burr challenged him to a duel – like you do! Hamilton accepted and the men traveled to a rocky bluff in Weehawken, New Jersey on July 11, 1804. Hamilton’s bullet struck a tree branch over Burr’s head, and that Burr’s shot hit Hamilton in the stomach. He was taken back to his home in New York, where he died the next day.
Aren’t you glad that we have progressed from there? OR HAVE WE? I’d argue we still have our ways of killing our opponents. In the last few years, we’ve seen the rise of call out culture, outrage culture, cancel culture. “Cancel Culture” which is one of the ways we combat – or attempt to destroy – ideas with which we disagree. Recently we’ve seen attempts at canceling:
Major League Baseball
Colin Kaepernick
Dr. Seuss
Starbucks
J.K. Rowling
NASCAR
New York Times editor, Adam Rubenstein
Goya Foods
Now, just so we’re clear, this isn’t a tactic that exists on one side of the isle, this is truly bipartisan. In their book The Coddling of the American Mind, authors Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff point out that there is a new movement in academic circles. Redaction… if you don’t like a paper someone writes, you call for its redaction. It’s like we used to say on the playground, “take it back!” It used to be that people would write a rebuttal. Now we want redaction. And the angrier a person or group gets about an issue; the more likely people are to acquiesce. Dr. John Perkins poignantly stated, “This generation is the first to turn hate into an asset.” We might not be calling for duels on the cliff’s edge, but we are still shooting off our bullets.
And it’s also prevalent INSIDE THE CHURCH. I’m reading a biography on Eugene Peterson right now and in it he discussed his interaction with Harry Emerson Fosdick - a wildly debated theologian in his day. I thought what he wrote was spot on, “I think Fosdick was quite wrong in some of his conclusions, but I also think we were even worse in our vilification.”
How do we disagree in a way that honors Jesus AND allows ourselves and others to grow? Growth requires change. Those of you who have young kids you see this on display in your kids physically daily. They are growing… which means they’re changing. They are different. The same is true for us as adults – to grow we have to change. Think about it; in order to grow you have to learn something new, think about something differently, or experience something afresh. I’m in NO WAY suggesting that you should agree with everything you read or hear; sometimes listening to someone with whom you disagree will mean that you become more solidified in your convictions, but that in and of itself is change and growth. But it necessitates getting out of our echo chambers and listening. Growth requires change. If you are unwilling to change, you are unable to grow.
If we “cancel” everyone we disagree with, we cut ourselves off from one of the ways Jesus grows us. BUT I think you’d agree, it’s hard to figure out HOW Jesus is inviting me to grow and change. It’s hard to figure out what I should cling to tightly, and what I should let go of. Put another way: I don’t want to “cancel” growth, but I’m unwilling to let go of truth.
How do we know where God is leading us? How can we remain rooted while also flying? Here’s the good news, some of the greatest movements in church history have been born out of sharp disagreement and today we are going to learn from their example. Open with me to Acts 15. As you’re turning there, let me give you a bit of context for this passage. Most scholars think Acts 15 is roughly 20 years after Pentecost. So, the church has two decades of history under its belt. 20 years of a way of doing things and seeing God move and work. But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing, there are major questions and concerns that are swirling.
Listen to the way Luke recorded the inciting incident in Acts 15:1-2,
1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.
So, Paul, Barnabas, and others head 300 miles south to Jerusalem to discuss that topic. I often joke that this is THE MOST IMPORTANT CHURCH BUSINESS MEETING OF ALL TIME – and it was brought on by sharp disagreement! In fact, listen to the way the Council began…
5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” (Acts 15:5)
These are NO SMALL ISSUES! They’re debating what you need to do to be saved! What does it really mean to follow Jesus? Is it Jesus + Moses? Is it Jesus + surgery? Think about all of the perspectives, opinions, convictions, and preferences that are being poked at.
Theological: What does a person have to do to be a follower of Jesus? That’s a big question. Some might argue, the BIGGEST question.
Communal: How big is our circle? Who is included in our tribe and how does a person become a part of “us”?
History and preferences: Some had to be thinking, “we can’t change, we’ve always done things that way…”
Future Implications: Someone had to pipe in with the “slippery slope argument…” if we cave to this request, how else are we going to cave to our culture? “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
These are huge questions!
Here’s what we’re going to see through the story of the Jerusalem Council: Openness to God’s direction requires a willingness for interruption. If God is going to lead, he we have to be willing to letting him take us to unexpected places. Interruption comes in a variety of different forms. Sometimes its life circumstances imposed on us. Sometimes its opportunities presented to us. Other times its ideas that are put in front of us. For the church in Acts 15, they were challenged to rethink what people had to do to be considered Christians and how to live. Each side needed to lay down some of their convictions to come to a compromise that allowed them to move forward. Normal is digging in a doubling down on our convictions and preferences – it’s canceling those with whom we disagree. But what’s not so new and not so normal is sitting down at the same table, listening openly, and coming to a compromise.
How do we actually do that? God is gracious to direct if we are willing to listen. Look at how that happened in Acts 15:6-12 (no slide),
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
This stands in contrast to the Mosaic Covenant where people were cleansed through sacrifice and had to come to Israel. This actually connects this movement of God back further than Moses; it connects them to Abraham!
10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
That’s quite the statement… we want them to follow rules and laws that we haven’t been able to follow. That’s often the way “religion” works. But then Peter distills his main point.
11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” 12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
Peter’s point is: LOOK AT WHAT GOD IS DOING! There are amazing things happening among the Gentiles. Whenever we hit a snag in trying to discern God’s direction and his will Recognize God’s activity.
Traditionally, the church has called this discernment. In the process of discernment corporately and as individuals, we should ask the same question: What has God been doing in and through my life? How is he at work? Discovering God’s will is a lot more like operating a sailboat than a motorboat. We are simply trying to respond to his wind; his nudging and prompting, more than we are trying to create something ourselves. GOD’S WILL FOLLOWS GOD’S WORK!
It’s important to be discerning because sometimes God moves outside of our own walls and outside of our EXPECTATIONS. Listen to the way Jesus’ disciples struggled with this concept in Mark 9:38-41,
38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
Can you imagine trying to stop people from driving out demons because it doesn’t align with the way you think God should work? It doesn’t align with YOUR experience or expectations of God. Our tendency is often to fight God when his movement doesn’t fit our paradigm; however, at the Jerusalem Council, they let God be God.
What is God doing in your life and how can you respond? This week I’ve been met with some disappointment, surprise, and joy. What about you? It might look like God opening opportunities you thought were past. It may mean God using your skills and experiences to lead to new opportunity. It might mean rethinking what you’ve believed about certain things because of the way God is at work around the globe. What is God doing and how can you get on board? That’s the question the Early Church asked and it’s the same one we’re invited to ask today.
There is a second way the church tries to discern God’s guidance. Listen to Acts 15:13-18,
13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 “‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’
“And with this the words of the prophets agree…” (v. 15) He’s quoting from Amos 9:11-12. In essence, James says, “We should have been expecting this.” It honors and the promise and the pattern we see in Holy Scripture! Align with Scripture.
BUT which parts of the Bible should we seek to align with? Asked another way, which parts of the Bible should we obey? Should we obey every command in the Bible? Should we live by the saying, “The Bible says it, so I believe it, and that settles it”? Well,
Exodus 21:17 says that a child who curses their parent was to be put to death.
Numbers 5 states that if a woman is suspected of adultery, she is to drink dirty water… if her belly swells, she’s guilty and should be put to death.
Leviticus 19:19 says do not wear clothes made of more than one fabric.
Leviticus 11 says that eating pork, read BACON, is wrong.
How many of you were on board up until the bacon part? Ha! The point is, that it’s not so simplistic that we can just say, “If the Bible commands it, we do it.” That’s not true! None of us live that way. We all know this… it’s why we eat ham sandwiches and don’t stone disobedient children. What they decided at this Council was both in line with the big story God was telling, they didn’t directly apply THE COMMANDS GIVEN IN THE LAW OF MOSES. What they decided meant that not all of the Bible is directly applicable to us. The church was practicing what Wayne Gretzky would later say,
“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.”
They were skating to the puck and where they saw the Scriptures pointing.
How do we decide which parts of the Bible we should “align” with? I love the way Paul summarized this for the church in Rome. He wrote,
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Romans 13:8-9)
The early disciples were convinced that love was the intent of entire old covenant. In fear of over-simplifying things, we have two commands that we should keep at all times… LOVE GOD AND LOVE PEOPLE. Those are the two greatest commands according to Jesus and we should NEVER break the greatest commands to keep a secondary command. Jesus doesn’t like it when we use his word to avoid doing his will! You can execute the commands of the father but miss the heart of the father. Loving God and others are the most important things to God! A few questions we might ask as we move forward:
Does it honor the dignity of people?
Can I love God and others and do this thing?
Is it spreading the net of God’s love wider?
After all, love is the new law.
Listen to the next way forward. First, we read in Acts 15:2,
…Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them
Then later we read in Acts 15:7,
7 And after there had been much debate… (“consider” in v. 6)
Then in Acts 15:19,
19 Therefore my judgment…
If you get the feeling that the situation was a bit contentious, you’re reading it right. They are debating and using judgement or logic to try to come to a conclusion. However, towards the end there is a pivot in attitude. In Acts 15:25 we read,
25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord…
I love this picture of the early church. They start off disagreeing with each other quite passionately, and then end being in “one accord.” I love the way they: Seek wise counsel. They rest on the collective wisdom of the community – even those they disagree with.
I AM CONVINCED THAT THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH RESTS ON OUR ABILITY TO ENGAGE AND DEBATE DIFFERING VIEWS! Without demonizing people. Without casting stones. In our “Lone Ranger” cultural moment, seeking advice can at times be seen as weakness. Let me be clear – seeking wise counsel is a sign of strength not of weakness. This requires:
that people are informed and willing to share their opinion.
that people are patient enough to listen to an opposing viewpoint.
that people are humble and willing to change their mind if it seems like they’re off.
At the Jerusalem Council, no one got canceled; it seems like all got listened to, and they came to a compromise in moving forward. I’m not sure everyone was perfectly happy; THERE WAS COMPROMISE ON BOTH SIDES. The Jewish Christians had to acknowledge some were part of the church but not circumcised; and the Gentile believers had to adapt some of their customs to accommodate their brothers. However, they all felt that they had heard from God and they moved forward in love. There wasn’t a digging of heels into the sand, there is a holding open handedly opinions and preferences.
The Jerusalem Council was the first of its kind, but it wasn’t the last. Leaders in the Early Church gathered on numerous occasions to make decisions on theological issues. For example, Council of Nicea in 325ad which lasted two months and twelve days, 318 bishops were present, and gave birth to the Nicene Creed which confirmed the true divinity of the Son. Collective wisdom and reasoning is part of OUR history.
This is one of the things I love about Life Groups. They create space for you to get input from others – hopefully in a way that helps see what God is doing. But you have to seek input diligently, receive it humbly, and filter it wisely – because not all input is created equal. What is one thing going on in your life that you could invite others into? You are not a rock, you’re not an island, you need others on the journey.
Listen to what the church leaders decided:
28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” (Acts 15:28-30)
If you’re grateful that you can eat bacon (praise Jesus!), you can thank the Jerusalem Council! If you’re grateful we don’t require circumcision for membership or kill women who commit adultery or don’t need to sacrifice animals to God, you can thank the Jerusalem Council. Notice, the prohibitions are not requirements for salvation. They settled on salvation through Jesus alone; these instructions were what would help them “do well.” They were ways to honor other people in the church (with the dietary laws) and their fellow human beings in the way the church embraced a new sexual ethnic.
“It seemed good…” that phrase is actually mentioned 3 times – here in v. 28, but also in 22 and 25. The biggest decision ever made in the church “seemed good.” How’s that for precision? Wow! What they didn’t say is as important as what they did say. They DIDN’T SAY:
God has clearly spoken…
God’s word clearly says…
I’m certain this is what we should do…
Does this trouble you at all? The biggest decision the church has ever made was made based on observing where God was at work, trying to discern the contours of Scriptures, seeking input from wise people and inviting a robust debate, and… paying attention to what “seemed good.” There was no clear answer spoken from heaven, but there was a clear leading. I’d submit this is often the way God speaks to us. God’s guidance is often what seems good to the Spirit and to us. In the midst of interruption, the Spirit often gives an invitation. And there is an invitation in front of you today as well – not to cancel, but to converse. Not to be stagnant, but strengthened. Not to be stuck, but to be led by the Spirit.
Let me close by laying out what I believe to be the invitation in front of us.
Listen openly
Dialogue honestly
Learn continually
Honor everybody
That’s not so new, and it’s not so normal… but it is the way of Jesus and it can be our way too.
Let’s pray.