WEBVTT 00:00:02.849 --> 00:00:07.870 Churches are not perfect. Some use that fact 00:00:07.870 --> 00:00:12.830 as an excuse to neglect the local church. In 00:00:12.830 --> 00:00:17.070 response to that, some pastor picked up his satirical 00:00:17.070 --> 00:00:24.250 pen and wrote these words. He said, I quit football. 00:00:25.829 --> 00:00:28.890 Every time I went to the stadium, someone always 00:00:28.890 --> 00:00:32.689 asked for money. Although I went to the stadium 00:00:32.689 --> 00:00:36.929 often, no one ever spoke to me. I was a good 00:00:36.929 --> 00:00:39.549 fan, but the manager never came to call on me. 00:00:40.369 --> 00:00:42.990 And the seats are too hard. With all the money 00:00:42.990 --> 00:00:44.869 they have, one would think they could provide 00:00:44.869 --> 00:00:48.270 more comfortable seats. The referee said things 00:00:48.270 --> 00:00:51.590 I couldn't agree with. I suspected I was sitting 00:00:51.590 --> 00:00:54.929 with people who were hypocrites. They seemed 00:00:54.929 --> 00:00:57.429 more interested in soda pop and popcorn than 00:00:57.429 --> 00:01:00.859 they were in the ballgame. I'm not about to sit 00:01:00.859 --> 00:01:03.920 two or three hours during all those timeouts 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.959 and delays and run the risk of getting out late. 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:11.760 And the band always plays the same tunes. I could 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:14.099 find that music elsewhere, and sometimes they 00:01:14.099 --> 00:01:17.739 play tunes I've never heard before. The game 00:01:17.739 --> 00:01:20.859 always comes at the very time I have a trip planned 00:01:20.859 --> 00:01:24.219 or must visit grandma's or catch up on my sleep. 00:01:24.829 --> 00:01:27.769 And besides, I was often forced to attend games 00:01:27.769 --> 00:01:31.890 when I was growing up. My money is all my very 00:01:31.890 --> 00:01:34.349 own. Nobody's going to tell me how much to pledge 00:01:34.349 --> 00:01:37.650 before I can sit down in the bleachers. All many 00:01:37.650 --> 00:01:40.769 people go for is to see what somebody else is 00:01:40.769 --> 00:01:44.170 wearing. I will not sit by somebody dressed better 00:01:44.170 --> 00:01:47.629 than I. Even the players have new uniforms every 00:01:47.629 --> 00:01:51.349 season, and that's a big waste of money. Since 00:01:51.349 --> 00:01:54.450 buying a book on football, I stay at home and 00:01:54.450 --> 00:01:59.450 read it or watch the game on TV. Well, I think 00:01:59.450 --> 00:02:01.810 with his witty pen, this pastor gets to the heart 00:02:01.810 --> 00:02:05.010 of the thinking of some people. Perhaps you have 00:02:05.010 --> 00:02:09.250 heard some of those excuses. We're often rather 00:02:09.250 --> 00:02:13.189 idealistic in our expectations of a local church. 00:02:15.110 --> 00:02:18.389 We reason that after all, it is the body of Christ, 00:02:18.530 --> 00:02:22.620 and Christ is perfect. Therefore, the church 00:02:22.620 --> 00:02:27.479 should be perfect. We tend to feel that no problems 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:32.139 should ever arise in the church. And then, then 00:02:32.139 --> 00:02:37.479 conflict occurs. And suddenly the idealism that 00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:44.280 we possessed is gone. The balloon is burst. That 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:49.370 creates tension and anxiety, uncertainty. And 00:02:49.370 --> 00:02:52.030 it can lead to disenchantment or disillusionment 00:02:52.030 --> 00:02:56.169 altogether with the church. But even the early 00:02:56.169 --> 00:03:00.189 church had its conflicts. Even with the strong 00:03:00.189 --> 00:03:03.550 and godly leadership of the apostles, there were 00:03:03.550 --> 00:03:08.030 problems in the fellowship. No ministry is immune 00:03:08.030 --> 00:03:11.870 to conflict. I'd like you to turn in our text 00:03:11.870 --> 00:03:15.289 today to Acts chapter 6, verses 1 through 7. 00:03:17.389 --> 00:03:22.310 And we see conflict in the church. Now at this 00:03:22.310 --> 00:03:24.569 time, while the disciples were increasing in 00:03:24.569 --> 00:03:27.569 number, a complaint arose on the part of the 00:03:27.569 --> 00:03:31.990 Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews because 00:03:31.990 --> 00:03:34.409 their widows were being overlooked in the daily 00:03:34.409 --> 00:03:37.729 serving of food. And the twelve summoned the 00:03:37.729 --> 00:03:41.009 congregation of the disciples and said, It is 00:03:41.009 --> 00:03:43.469 not desirable for us to neglect the word of God 00:03:43.469 --> 00:03:47.030 in order to serve tables. But select from among 00:03:47.030 --> 00:03:50.710 you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, 00:03:51.009 --> 00:03:54.870 full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may 00:03:54.870 --> 00:03:59.050 put in charge of this task. But we will devote 00:03:59.050 --> 00:04:02.389 ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the 00:04:02.389 --> 00:04:05.889 Word. And the statement found approval with the 00:04:05.889 --> 00:04:09.729 whole congregation, and they chose Stephen, a 00:04:09.729 --> 00:04:13.050 man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and 00:04:13.050 --> 00:04:18.930 Philip, and Prochorus. and a caner, Timon, Parmenas, 00:04:18.930 --> 00:04:23.290 and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these 00:04:23.290 --> 00:04:25.910 they brought before the apostles, and after praying 00:04:25.910 --> 00:04:28.889 they laid their hands on them. And the word of 00:04:28.889 --> 00:04:32.069 God kept on spreading, and the number of the 00:04:32.069 --> 00:04:34.889 disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, 00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:38.329 and a great many of the priests were becoming 00:04:38.329 --> 00:04:42.500 obedient to the faith. The thing that I want 00:04:42.500 --> 00:04:44.819 to communicate from this passage today, and I 00:04:44.819 --> 00:04:46.699 believe the Spirit of God would have us learn, 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:51.439 is that we must realize that conflict in the 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:56.839 church is a part of God's plan. If not, then 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:59.379 we must concede that there are matters that are 00:04:59.379 --> 00:05:03.120 apparently out of His control. And that, of course, 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:08.220 could not be true. Conflict within the church... 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:12.680 is a part of God's plan for it. He does allow 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:16.439 it. There are three statements about conflict 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:18.839 that I'd like to talk about this morning that 00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:23.019 arise out of our text in Acts 6. I'd like you 00:05:23.019 --> 00:05:24.779 to follow along with these three statements. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:26.839 They're found printed there in your worship folder. 00:05:27.500 --> 00:05:31.199 The first statement is this, that conflict in 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:36.379 ministry is inevitable. Conflict in ministry 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:41.319 is inevitable. Why is that, you ask? Well, I 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:43.699 think there are at least two reasons why that 00:05:43.699 --> 00:05:47.160 is so. The first reason is that we are humans. 00:05:49.459 --> 00:05:52.439 And because we are humans, we are individualistic. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:58.259 We have a variety of ideas, opinions, and prejudices 00:05:58.259 --> 00:06:03.740 among us. And out of those individualisms, conflict 00:06:03.740 --> 00:06:07.939 can arise. We are human, and therefore we are 00:06:07.939 --> 00:06:13.339 also imperfect. We can be carnal and selfish. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.420 We are not yet fully conformed to the image of 00:06:18.420 --> 00:06:22.459 the Lord Jesus Christ. And out of that imperfection, 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:28.300 conflict can arise. Conflict can arise within 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:30.379 a ministry because we are humans. There is a 00:06:30.379 --> 00:06:33.480 second reason that it can come, and that is because 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.029 we have an enemy. And, of course, that enemy 00:06:36.029 --> 00:06:40.910 is Satan. Satan seeks to gain any foothold he 00:06:40.910 --> 00:06:45.209 can in a ministry and will either create conflict 00:06:45.209 --> 00:06:49.209 or take advantage of conflict that's already 00:06:49.209 --> 00:06:53.970 there in order to accomplish his schemes. In 00:06:53.970 --> 00:06:57.970 2 Corinthians 2, the Apostle Paul warns the Corinthians 00:06:57.970 --> 00:07:02.050 and us regarding that. You may recall that in 00:07:02.050 --> 00:07:05.779 the Corinthian church, there was... previously 00:07:05.779 --> 00:07:09.439 an immoral man accepted within the fellowship. 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:12.699 Paul wrote in the first letter to them that that 00:07:12.699 --> 00:07:16.259 man had to go, that they had to dismiss him from 00:07:16.259 --> 00:07:20.800 the church with church discipline in order that 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:24.779 he might perhaps repent. Well, in fact, that's 00:07:24.779 --> 00:07:28.379 exactly what happened. He repented of his immorality. 00:07:29.180 --> 00:07:31.560 And there were some in the church who accepted 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:35.730 him back, but not all of them. So Paul writes 00:07:35.730 --> 00:07:38.370 regarding his own attitude to give these people 00:07:38.370 --> 00:07:42.069 who would not accept him back an example. He 00:07:42.069 --> 00:07:44.449 says in chapter 2 verse 10 of 2 Corinthians, 00:07:44.790 --> 00:07:47.990 But whom you forgive anything, I forgive also. 00:07:48.529 --> 00:07:51.290 For indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven 00:07:51.290 --> 00:07:54.310 anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence 00:07:54.310 --> 00:07:58.129 of Christ, in order that no advantage be taken 00:07:58.129 --> 00:08:03.170 of us by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his 00:08:03.170 --> 00:08:07.199 schemes. What Paul is saying here is that Satan 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.680 was seeking to gain an advantage in the Corinthian 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:14.300 church over the conflict that existed between 00:08:14.300 --> 00:08:16.420 those who had forgiven the man and wanted to 00:08:16.420 --> 00:08:18.439 receive him back and those who had not forgiven 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:20.819 him and did not want to receive him back into 00:08:20.819 --> 00:08:24.980 the fellowship. Out of that conflict, Satan was 00:08:24.980 --> 00:08:28.699 seeking to gain a foothold in the ministry. And 00:08:28.699 --> 00:08:31.740 Paul says, we are not ignorant of his schemes. 00:08:33.580 --> 00:08:36.919 And so conflict is inevitable because we have 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:41.879 an enemy. Now back into our text in Acts chapter 00:08:41.879 --> 00:08:45.659 6, we learn from observation that rapid growth 00:08:45.659 --> 00:08:49.720 in a ministry compounds the possibilities for 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:53.820 conflict. It says that at this time, while the 00:08:53.820 --> 00:08:57.159 disciples were increasing in number, in other 00:08:57.159 --> 00:08:59.080 words, it was during one of these mushrooming 00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:05.679 periods in the Jerusalem church, The word complaint 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:11.059 means murmur. It is the Greek word gonguzo. Even 00:09:11.059 --> 00:09:14.399 the very word sounds that way, doesn't it? It's 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:18.899 a low muttering. It's a grumbling, sort of under 00:09:18.899 --> 00:09:23.259 the breath. This complaint or murmuring had come 00:09:23.259 --> 00:09:27.320 into the fellowship because of what was perceived 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:31.190 as an oversight. The complaint actually arose 00:09:31.190 --> 00:09:35.450 on the part of the Hellenistic Jews, and it was 00:09:35.450 --> 00:09:39.429 against the native Jews. Now, we need to talk 00:09:39.429 --> 00:09:42.389 about that a moment. Who are these people? Well, 00:09:42.450 --> 00:09:45.049 they're all new converts in the first place. 00:09:45.049 --> 00:09:49.669 They're all Christians. But some of them were 00:09:49.669 --> 00:09:54.190 Hellenistic Jewish in their background. The word 00:09:54.190 --> 00:09:57.899 Hellen means Greek. The idea is that they came 00:09:57.899 --> 00:10:00.980 out of a Greek culture, a Greek ideology, a Greek 00:10:00.980 --> 00:10:04.240 way of thinking, perhaps even spoke Greek as 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:10.279 their major language, as Jews, rather than Aramaic, 00:10:10.279 --> 00:10:14.200 which was the common language in Palestine. These 00:10:14.200 --> 00:10:18.019 people apparently had moved to Palestine and 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:23.000 retained their own cultural identity. They were 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:26.710 the minority, it would seem. The majority were 00:10:26.710 --> 00:10:30.769 those who were native Hebrews or Jews, those 00:10:30.769 --> 00:10:34.090 whose major language was not only Hebrew but 00:10:34.090 --> 00:10:37.269 Aramaic, the common language of that time and 00:10:37.269 --> 00:10:41.389 in that place. These people came out of the traditional 00:10:41.389 --> 00:10:47.029 Hebrew culture. They were in the majority. There 00:10:47.029 --> 00:10:52.330 was prejudice between the two groups. Those who 00:10:52.330 --> 00:10:55.070 were native -born Palestinian Jews looked down 00:10:55.070 --> 00:10:59.169 upon the other Greek -oriented Jews as second 00:10:59.169 --> 00:11:04.169 -class people. They were not quite as fully Jewish, 00:11:04.289 --> 00:11:09.809 at least in the thinking of these Hebrew Jews. 00:11:10.470 --> 00:11:15.210 Not quite as fully Jewish as were they. Now, 00:11:15.210 --> 00:11:19.309 it was around that particular bias that the complaint 00:11:19.309 --> 00:11:23.679 arose. It is clear that the early church practiced 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:28.980 social concern, at least among its members. It 00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:31.200 is said here that there was a daily serving, 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:35.299 a daily ministration of some kind, and that is 00:11:35.299 --> 00:11:38.159 further described in verse 2 as the serving of 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:43.580 tables. What is this? A couple of possibilities. 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:47.639 There's the possibility that there was formed 00:11:47.639 --> 00:11:52.919 within the church sort of a soup kitchen, so 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:55.379 that those who had nothing to eat could be cared 00:11:55.379 --> 00:11:59.019 for. As a matter of fact, that was common among 00:11:59.019 --> 00:12:02.279 some of the Jewish sects. For example, the Essenes 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:06.519 and the Pharisees both had this kind of a social 00:12:06.519 --> 00:12:12.779 ministry to their own group. Apparently, some 00:12:12.779 --> 00:12:15.240 of the Christians, and maybe even a good number 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:18.409 of these early Christians, were saved out of 00:12:18.409 --> 00:12:21.330 those groups. And when they became Christians, 00:12:21.629 --> 00:12:25.149 they began to organize a social ministry to their 00:12:25.149 --> 00:12:29.690 own. They were used to doing that. And so they 00:12:29.690 --> 00:12:32.210 organized what seems to have been the serving 00:12:32.210 --> 00:12:35.210 of food to those who could not care for themselves. 00:12:36.029 --> 00:12:39.269 But the word tables in verse 2 can also be used 00:12:39.269 --> 00:12:43.590 of a banking table. Jesus overturning the tables, 00:12:43.830 --> 00:12:48.580 for example, in the temple. And so it may also 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:51.720 include the idea here that there was the distribution 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:55.539 of monies to people who did not have enough to 00:12:55.539 --> 00:13:00.720 live on. I think rather, for myself at least, 00:13:00.740 --> 00:13:02.500 I think that there was probably a combination 00:13:02.500 --> 00:13:06.779 of these two ideas in this ministration or this 00:13:06.779 --> 00:13:10.139 serving that was taking place. And you see what 00:13:10.139 --> 00:13:13.460 happened was that those who were Greek in background 00:13:13.460 --> 00:13:16.440 felt that their needy, and particularly the widows, 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:21.399 were being neglected in favor of the Palestinian 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:26.860 -born Jewish widows, the Hebrew widows. And so 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:31.059 the murmuring started around that issue. It gave 00:13:31.059 --> 00:13:35.879 occasion for that smoldering prejudice to be 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:40.779 fanned into flame. Now it may be that in a smaller 00:13:40.779 --> 00:13:43.580 situation where there was not such dynamic growth, 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:47.759 that this would not have occurred. But this was 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:52.700 an unusual situation. There was dynamic growth 00:13:52.700 --> 00:13:58.360 taking place, and it did happen. It may be that 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:00.240 in a smaller ministry it wouldn't have happened, 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:02.960 but the fact is that in a smaller ministry they 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:05.179 may not have been able to provide this way either. 00:14:06.259 --> 00:14:09.200 The larger ministry can often do greater things, 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:13.039 but the danger is what happened here apparently 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:15.100 to some degree, and that is that you lose the 00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:18.279 personal touch. Frankly, that's something we 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:20.899 have fought against in our church for the last 00:14:20.899 --> 00:14:22.879 four years and we still fight against, losing 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:26.480 that personal touch with people. Right now, our 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:29.059 adult small churches are organizing care groups. 00:14:29.779 --> 00:14:31.820 Perhaps you heard something about that in your 00:14:31.820 --> 00:14:35.139 small church this morning. And these care groups, 00:14:35.259 --> 00:14:38.240 we trust, will be in place within about three 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:42.149 to four weeks and functioning. So that on a periodic 00:14:42.149 --> 00:14:45.009 basis, everyone who comes to Grace Church can 00:14:45.009 --> 00:14:48.330 be contacted by somebody else in a personal way. 00:14:49.009 --> 00:14:52.649 And occasionally also be in the home of someone 00:14:52.649 --> 00:14:57.529 in our church. We need that kind of interrelationship. 00:14:57.690 --> 00:15:00.250 And I want to encourage you that if you're approached 00:15:00.250 --> 00:15:03.990 for leadership as one of these care group leaders 00:15:03.990 --> 00:15:07.370 or as a ministry pastor in your small church, 00:15:07.490 --> 00:15:10.330 to seriously consider... and pray about. Being 00:15:10.330 --> 00:15:13.129 involved in that way is so important and strategic. 00:15:15.230 --> 00:15:19.649 Well, we see here that it's not always sin that 00:15:19.649 --> 00:15:24.129 causes conflict. Conflicts can come out of sin, 00:15:24.269 --> 00:15:28.490 but not necessarily is that so. Here, there was 00:15:28.490 --> 00:15:31.750 a legitimate complaint, but it wasn't because 00:15:31.750 --> 00:15:35.850 of a deliberate oversight, as far as we can see. 00:15:37.899 --> 00:15:39.759 I think there's an important comment that we 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:41.600 need to make before we go to our second point, 00:15:41.659 --> 00:15:44.460 and that is that when there is a conflict, such 00:15:44.460 --> 00:15:48.000 as happens here, that we all should seek to be 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:50.299 a part of the solution and not a part of the 00:15:50.299 --> 00:15:55.279 problem. Conflicts are inevitable in any ministry, 00:15:55.460 --> 00:15:58.259 whether it be a church or a Christian organization. 00:15:59.659 --> 00:16:07.139 They are inevitable, but they are not fun. nor 00:16:07.139 --> 00:16:09.820 can they be thoughtlessly ignored, thinking they 00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:14.440 will go away. What must we do when conflict does 00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:20.940 arise? We must face it in faith. When we do that, 00:16:21.100 --> 00:16:24.440 then we will cause our walk with the Lord and 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:28.279 our service for Him to be undisrupted. We must 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:32.940 face conflict in faith, not run from it in fear. 00:16:33.740 --> 00:16:36.240 Because conflict is inevitable. It's a part of 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:39.879 God's plan. There's a second statement that I 00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:42.580 see that we need to talk about, and that is that 00:16:42.580 --> 00:16:45.519 conflict provides a God -given opportunity for 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:50.179 ministry development. Verses 2 through 6. The 00:16:50.179 --> 00:16:53.179 ministry of the Jerusalem church actually developed 00:16:53.179 --> 00:16:56.120 because of the conflict. That's why it's a part 00:16:56.120 --> 00:17:00.980 of God's plan. The pressures exerted by circumstances... 00:17:01.549 --> 00:17:05.890 Force, evaluation, and then action. Hopefully, 00:17:06.029 --> 00:17:09.890 action that is wise and proper. We see that here, 00:17:10.009 --> 00:17:13.869 for example. The evaluation basically was this, 00:17:13.890 --> 00:17:16.849 that there was too much responsibility resting 00:17:16.849 --> 00:17:20.589 on too few people. And it caused their right 00:17:20.589 --> 00:17:25.230 priorities to be jeopardized, which was a danger 00:17:25.230 --> 00:17:29.549 to the church's ministry. Whose fault was it? 00:17:30.890 --> 00:17:34.150 Well, no one's. Isn't it interesting how often 00:17:34.150 --> 00:17:36.869 we try to place fault and find out who's to blame 00:17:36.869 --> 00:17:40.410 for this? But in fact, sometimes there's no one 00:17:40.410 --> 00:17:43.549 to blame. And sometimes it doesn't do much good 00:17:43.549 --> 00:17:48.289 to place blame anyway. He says, the text here 00:17:48.289 --> 00:17:50.910 rather says that this was simply an occasion 00:17:50.910 --> 00:17:54.789 that arose. It was not because someone purposely 00:17:54.789 --> 00:17:58.630 did anything. It was because of the situation 00:17:58.630 --> 00:18:05.359 itself. I think that what we see here is an action 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:08.680 that took place because of the evaluation which 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:12.000 actually caused the ministry to develop. There 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:15.180 was a better management system created. When 00:18:15.180 --> 00:18:17.880 I see this, I think into the Old Testament of 00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:21.400 what happened when Moses was judging the people 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:24.279 of Israel in the wilderness. There were so many 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:28.470 conflicts that came up. that he was working from 00:18:28.470 --> 00:18:31.210 sunup to sunset, just hearing the cases and making 00:18:31.210 --> 00:18:35.609 decisions. So what should they do? Well, there 00:18:35.609 --> 00:18:39.829 was an evaluation, followed by action. The evaluation 00:18:39.829 --> 00:18:42.730 was carried out by one Jethro, who happened to 00:18:42.730 --> 00:18:45.769 be Moses' father -in -law. He obviously had a 00:18:45.769 --> 00:18:49.390 vested interest in Moses' health. And so he said, 00:18:49.430 --> 00:18:52.089 Moses, you cannot continually do this. You're 00:18:52.089 --> 00:18:55.880 wearing yourself out. So he had a plan of action. 00:18:55.940 --> 00:18:58.460 He said, you need to appoint 70 men to help you. 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:01.460 And that's what they did. Seventy elders were 00:19:01.460 --> 00:19:03.640 chosen out of the people of Israel to hear the 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:06.420 complaints and the conflicts and to settle them, 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:09.539 to give judgment. And thus Moses was released 00:19:09.539 --> 00:19:12.799 to lead the people. That's similar to what took 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:17.160 place here. When the action is carried out and 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:19.539 executed, it's important for it to be done in 00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:22.480 a wise way. I'd like you to notice with me how 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:26.599 they did it. in this early church incident. First 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:29.220 of all, there was an explanation to the congregation 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:32.359 of the leader's perception. You see that in verse 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:35.799 2. The twelve summoned the congregation of the 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:38.900 disciples and said, now the disciples here, that's 00:19:38.900 --> 00:19:42.319 everybody who professes faith. So it's thousands 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:45.279 of people who came together, probably in the 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:49.839 portico of Solomon. And their evaluation of the 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:54.240 situation is this. It is not desirable for us 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:57.180 to neglect the Word of God in order to serve 00:19:57.180 --> 00:20:01.140 tables. And so the leaders perceived that the 00:20:01.140 --> 00:20:05.759 priorities were getting out of balance. Now, 00:20:05.779 --> 00:20:07.660 it wasn't that they were above serving tables. 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:10.680 That's not the point. The point is that they 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:14.539 had a priority that was higher than that for 00:20:14.539 --> 00:20:17.450 their own work. And so they said it's not desirable. 00:20:17.549 --> 00:20:19.849 The idea is not well -pleasing for us, and it 00:20:19.849 --> 00:20:22.710 probably means not well -pleasing to God for 00:20:22.710 --> 00:20:26.890 us to be doing this and to be neglecting the 00:20:26.890 --> 00:20:30.230 Word of God. So there was an explanation to the 00:20:30.230 --> 00:20:34.289 congregation of what the leaders perceived. Secondly, 00:20:34.450 --> 00:20:37.089 there was a presentation to the congregation 00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:42.779 of the leaders' plan. Verse 3. And that plan 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:46.460 seems to be carried out in five steps or phases. 00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:50.380 First, they secured the congregation's involvement. 00:20:51.380 --> 00:20:55.559 They said, select from among you, brethren, seven 00:20:55.559 --> 00:21:01.500 men. They did not go outside for advice. They 00:21:01.500 --> 00:21:04.900 did not bring in outsiders. They said, folks, 00:21:05.019 --> 00:21:08.950 we need help. And so they secured the congregation's 00:21:08.950 --> 00:21:12.390 involvement in the problem itself. They said, 00:21:12.390 --> 00:21:16.069 select from among you. That was the first phase. 00:21:16.769 --> 00:21:19.049 And when you have a conflict, it may be in your 00:21:19.049 --> 00:21:22.190 Sunday school class or in your small church or, 00:21:22.269 --> 00:21:25.849 for that matter, at work or in your home, when 00:21:25.849 --> 00:21:27.930 there is a conflict, one of the first things 00:21:27.930 --> 00:21:30.670 you need to do is to get those who are involved 00:21:30.670 --> 00:21:36.200 in the conflict involved in the solution. Now 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:38.339 secondly, you'll notice that they related the 00:21:38.339 --> 00:21:41.319 solution to what the congregation could be comfortable 00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:46.980 with. They said, select seven men. Both of those 00:21:46.980 --> 00:21:51.279 words are important. Seven men. They needed to 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:54.920 be men because the Jews were used to male leadership. 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:58.740 In fact, women at this time were not even considered 00:21:58.740 --> 00:22:02.519 on the par with men. They were not asked to sit 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:04.420 with men in the synagogue. They were separated 00:22:04.420 --> 00:22:08.509 out. from that. And when some of the very religious 00:22:08.509 --> 00:22:10.750 Jews would pray, they would say, Lord, I thank 00:22:10.750 --> 00:22:12.549 you that I'm not this and I'm not that and I'm 00:22:12.549 --> 00:22:15.910 not a dog and I'm not a woman. That's the way 00:22:15.910 --> 00:22:19.089 they looked at it. I'm not suggesting that some 00:22:19.089 --> 00:22:21.430 of you men pray that way here. That's the way 00:22:21.430 --> 00:22:24.930 they prayed it then. And so that the congregation, 00:22:25.289 --> 00:22:28.349 which was made of converted Jews, be comfortable, 00:22:28.650 --> 00:22:31.589 they said, we need to select men, seven of them. 00:22:31.890 --> 00:22:35.089 Why seven? Well, first of all, to the Hebrews, 00:22:35.349 --> 00:22:39.710 seven is the perfect number. But furthermore, 00:22:39.809 --> 00:22:43.230 in the Jewish communities scattered throughout 00:22:43.230 --> 00:22:48.210 the Roman Empire at that time, they would elect 00:22:48.210 --> 00:22:54.210 seven men to lead their community. Those seven 00:22:54.210 --> 00:22:56.329 men then were looked to to make the decisions 00:22:56.329 --> 00:22:59.109 for that pocket of Jews within the larger city 00:22:59.109 --> 00:23:03.069 of pagans. So the Jews were used to thinking 00:23:03.069 --> 00:23:08.250 in terms of seven men solving conflicts. Seven 00:23:08.250 --> 00:23:13.089 men who are going to show us what to do. That's 00:23:13.089 --> 00:23:15.990 why I believe the apostles suggested this solution. 00:23:16.150 --> 00:23:19.109 They related the solution to what the congregation 00:23:19.109 --> 00:23:23.930 could be comfortable with. The third step or 00:23:23.930 --> 00:23:27.900 phase in their plan involved... the establishing 00:23:27.900 --> 00:23:30.700 of qualifications now for these seven men, not 00:23:30.700 --> 00:23:34.460 just any seven men. They said, first of all, 00:23:34.460 --> 00:23:36.559 they have to be of good reputation, which means 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:42.640 they had to be without blame. Men of good repute. 00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:46.660 Secondly, that's their qualifications of character, 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:50.180 by the way. Secondly, they had to be full of 00:23:50.180 --> 00:23:55.579 the Spirit. In other words, they had to be spiritual 00:23:55.579 --> 00:23:59.490 men. their spiritual qualifications. They had 00:23:59.490 --> 00:24:02.450 to be men who walked with God, who obeyed the 00:24:02.450 --> 00:24:05.910 Lord, knew the empowering of the Holy Spirit. 00:24:07.250 --> 00:24:13.210 Third, they had to be men of wisdom. This involves 00:24:13.210 --> 00:24:19.210 their qualifications of expertise. They had to 00:24:19.210 --> 00:24:22.490 be men who knew how to handle people and how 00:24:22.490 --> 00:24:28.119 to handle money. That's wisdom. So the third 00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:30.759 phase was selecting men who met certain qualifications. 00:24:31.380 --> 00:24:34.960 The fourth step or phase in their plan involved 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:37.900 the outlining of their delegated responsibilities 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:41.480 and authority. Notice that in verse 3. He says, 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:49.299 And so they outlined, though Luke does it very 00:24:49.299 --> 00:24:51.539 briefly here, what their job was. It was to take 00:24:51.539 --> 00:24:55.440 care of this task. They were not to be out helping 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:58.150 the... the apostles and doing other things. It 00:24:58.150 --> 00:25:00.910 was this task. This was their responsibility. 00:25:02.390 --> 00:25:04.650 And they say, we're going to put them in charge 00:25:04.650 --> 00:25:08.230 of it. And so along with the responsibility came 00:25:08.230 --> 00:25:10.769 the authority to carry it out. Let me tell you 00:25:10.769 --> 00:25:13.750 something. Whenever you are working with people 00:25:13.750 --> 00:25:19.029 and delegating a job to them, when you give them 00:25:19.029 --> 00:25:21.369 their responsibility, make it clear what the 00:25:21.369 --> 00:25:25.039 responsibility is. and then give them the authority 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:29.039 to carry it out. If you don't do that, you're 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:31.160 going to have a frustrated person on your hands. 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:34.859 Good managers always delegate responsibility 00:25:34.859 --> 00:25:38.779 and then give the commensurate authority to carry 00:25:38.779 --> 00:25:40.779 it out. And that's what the apostles clearly 00:25:40.779 --> 00:25:44.440 did here. And then the final step in their plan 00:25:44.440 --> 00:25:47.380 involved their being appointed by the leaders 00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:52.619 themselves. We see that in verse 3 when they 00:25:52.619 --> 00:25:56.579 say, whom we may put in charge of the task. And 00:25:56.579 --> 00:26:00.039 then in verse 6, they brought these men before 00:26:00.039 --> 00:26:04.019 the apostles, and after praying, they laid their 00:26:04.019 --> 00:26:07.599 hands on them. And so they officially set them 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:10.839 apart. Now this kind of implies an accountability. 00:26:11.059 --> 00:26:14.000 It's not enough to delegate responsibility. There 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:16.900 has to be some accountability coming back so 00:26:16.900 --> 00:26:19.650 that you know. People are carrying out what they're 00:26:19.650 --> 00:26:23.230 supposed to do in their function. And so they 00:26:23.230 --> 00:26:24.990 laid their hands on them. You say, what does 00:26:24.990 --> 00:26:28.210 that mean? Well, it doesn't mean that these seven 00:26:28.210 --> 00:26:30.730 men got something from the apostles they didn't 00:26:30.730 --> 00:26:34.289 have before necessarily. Perhaps you've seen 00:26:34.289 --> 00:26:37.609 hands laid on people. I've seen this done at 00:26:37.609 --> 00:26:41.750 ordinations. When other pastors gather around 00:26:41.750 --> 00:26:44.950 a new young pastor who's being ordained, they 00:26:44.950 --> 00:26:47.049 put their hands on his head and pray for him. 00:26:47.889 --> 00:26:50.289 One pastor put it this way. He says it's empty 00:26:50.289 --> 00:26:54.009 hands on an empty head. And that's sometimes 00:26:54.009 --> 00:26:57.289 altogether too true, I'm sure. But there's nothing 00:26:57.289 --> 00:27:01.130 imparted except that it is symbolic of someone 00:27:01.130 --> 00:27:03.630 being set apart. And that's what they did with 00:27:03.630 --> 00:27:08.329 these seven individuals. And so there was an 00:27:08.329 --> 00:27:10.789 explanation to the congregation of the leader's 00:27:10.789 --> 00:27:13.509 perception. Things shouldn't be going this way, 00:27:13.549 --> 00:27:16.190 folks. We're having to neglect the Word of God 00:27:16.190 --> 00:27:20.039 and to serve tables. Secondly, they presented 00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:24.420 a plan to the congregation. Thirdly, they clarified 00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:27.599 to the congregation their own, that is the leader's, 00:27:27.660 --> 00:27:32.079 priorities. Notice this in verse 4. We will devote 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:35.119 ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:38.259 Word. That's what their job was. That's what 00:27:38.259 --> 00:27:42.960 they were appointed by God to do. Prayer and 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:45.240 the teaching of the Word of God are the brick 00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:49.670 and mortar of building a church. A church. The 00:27:49.670 --> 00:27:53.210 brick is the word of God, the doctrine that must 00:27:53.210 --> 00:27:56.529 be taught. When you're building a building, you 00:27:56.529 --> 00:28:00.329 have to do more than stack up bricks. Those bricks 00:28:00.329 --> 00:28:04.349 have to be put together and held together. And 00:28:04.349 --> 00:28:08.809 prayer is the mortar that does that. Prayer is 00:28:08.809 --> 00:28:13.549 vital to our church. The priorities of the... 00:28:13.869 --> 00:28:15.789 leadership of our church today, and of course 00:28:15.789 --> 00:28:18.009 we don't have apostles today, we have elders. 00:28:19.210 --> 00:28:22.150 But the priority of the elders' ministry must 00:28:22.150 --> 00:28:26.250 be that which is spiritual. Praying, the teaching 00:28:26.250 --> 00:28:28.269 of the Word of God, and the effective communication 00:28:28.269 --> 00:28:30.890 of that, and the carrying out of the teaching 00:28:30.890 --> 00:28:34.309 of the Word of God in our church. Prayer is the 00:28:34.309 --> 00:28:36.970 part of all of us, for that matter. That's why 00:28:36.970 --> 00:28:39.890 we're meeting for prayer this Friday night. It's 00:28:39.890 --> 00:28:41.849 not just so that you have something more to do 00:28:41.849 --> 00:28:44.789 this week. It's because we need to pray as we 00:28:44.789 --> 00:28:48.150 build the church. We need to pray together. And 00:28:48.150 --> 00:28:50.470 so there was a clarification to the congregation 00:28:50.470 --> 00:28:53.470 of the leader's priorities. Now, how did the 00:28:53.470 --> 00:28:57.329 congregation respond? Well, it says the statement 00:28:57.329 --> 00:29:01.250 found approval with the whole congregation. Some 00:29:01.250 --> 00:29:03.549 people say that proves it was not a Baptist church 00:29:03.549 --> 00:29:06.369 there in Jerusalem because everybody approved 00:29:06.369 --> 00:29:09.859 of it. I don't know about that. But I do know 00:29:09.859 --> 00:29:12.420 it says here that everybody found this acceptable. 00:29:12.619 --> 00:29:14.759 They approved of it. They were pleased with the 00:29:14.759 --> 00:29:20.000 plan. And they appointed seven men who are named 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:23.220 here. It's interesting to note that these seven 00:29:23.220 --> 00:29:28.200 all bear Greek names. That may suggest to us 00:29:28.200 --> 00:29:30.920 that they were a part of this minority that felt 00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:35.920 neglected. That may also give us a little idea 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:40.309 as to how to handle conflict. In this particular 00:29:40.309 --> 00:29:42.930 case, the congregation did not try to politically 00:29:42.930 --> 00:29:47.369 stack the committee. The majority of Palestinian 00:29:47.369 --> 00:29:50.130 Jews did not say, well, we want four of the seven 00:29:50.130 --> 00:29:53.529 who are our stripe, so we have the majority. 00:29:54.289 --> 00:29:57.109 Nor did they appoint three and three and then 00:29:57.109 --> 00:29:59.170 one guy who's going to cast the deciding vote. 00:29:59.250 --> 00:30:03.990 Poor guy. Rather, they appointed all seven of 00:30:03.990 --> 00:30:06.930 them from the Hellenistic group, apparently. 00:30:07.950 --> 00:30:10.589 That was really wise on their part, because they 00:30:10.589 --> 00:30:13.509 were the very ones who apparently had the complaint 00:30:13.509 --> 00:30:17.269 in the first place. And these seven men, being 00:30:17.269 --> 00:30:20.630 spiritual men who met the qualifications, accepted 00:30:20.630 --> 00:30:23.990 the responsibility. I think it was wise in another 00:30:23.990 --> 00:30:27.009 way, too, because now these seven men are going 00:30:27.009 --> 00:30:29.029 to bend over backwards to make sure that the 00:30:29.029 --> 00:30:32.190 Palestinian Jewish widows are not neglected. 00:30:33.069 --> 00:30:35.990 So everybody's going to be happy, it would seem, 00:30:35.990 --> 00:30:40.160 in the way that... that this was done. I think 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:42.019 it's worth pointing out here that this is an 00:30:42.019 --> 00:30:45.680 example not of congregational government. In 00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:47.640 fact, the New Testament does not teach that. 00:30:48.740 --> 00:30:51.180 The New Testament teaches that congregations 00:30:51.180 --> 00:30:54.359 select from among themselves leaders who are 00:30:54.359 --> 00:30:57.759 appointed the responsibility of leadership. What 00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:01.740 we have here then is a beautiful balance of cooperation 00:31:01.740 --> 00:31:06.150 between the God -appointed leaders and the congregation 00:31:06.150 --> 00:31:09.769 which they serve. The leaders, on their part, 00:31:09.829 --> 00:31:12.109 were sensitive to the problems and the concerns 00:31:12.109 --> 00:31:14.269 of the people, which is absolutely essential. 00:31:15.910 --> 00:31:19.109 They then formulated what they felt was an appropriate 00:31:19.109 --> 00:31:21.369 plan and presented that to the congregation. 00:31:22.369 --> 00:31:25.509 The congregation accepted the plan of the leaders 00:31:25.509 --> 00:31:27.529 and carried out their part of it. They appointed 00:31:27.529 --> 00:31:30.990 those seven men. And then the leaders instituted 00:31:30.990 --> 00:31:34.480 the plan. By carrying out their part, they officially 00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:37.180 set them apart by the laying on of the hands. 00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:41.420 What we really see here, I think, is an embryonic 00:31:41.420 --> 00:31:47.019 form of the New Testament office of deacon. A 00:31:47.019 --> 00:31:49.779 deacon is a servant. That is the meaning of the 00:31:49.779 --> 00:31:53.539 word. And although that word technically is not 00:31:53.539 --> 00:31:57.380 used here, a form of it is used three times. 00:31:58.500 --> 00:32:01.690 So I think that we're looking at... an embryonic 00:32:01.690 --> 00:32:07.210 deacon board. These men were to assist the leaders 00:32:07.210 --> 00:32:10.750 in the administration of the church ministry. 00:32:11.630 --> 00:32:15.269 They were servants to help them. And that's what 00:32:15.269 --> 00:32:17.630 we attempt to use deacons for in our own church. 00:32:19.789 --> 00:32:22.190 I think as we back off from this for just a moment, 00:32:22.269 --> 00:32:24.490 the lesson that all of us can learn is this, 00:32:24.529 --> 00:32:28.470 that in our conflicts, what we need to do is 00:32:28.470 --> 00:32:31.640 to look... for the possibilities in our problems. 00:32:32.920 --> 00:32:35.599 The possibilities that God intends for us to 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:39.799 grow, to accomplish our goals in a better way, 00:32:39.940 --> 00:32:44.599 to stretch us. We need to back off and to say, 00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:48.380 God, what are the possibilities here? Get the 00:32:48.380 --> 00:32:51.299 positive things out of the conflict because conflicts 00:32:51.299 --> 00:32:55.259 are inevitable. We will always have them. And 00:32:55.259 --> 00:32:57.920 we must recognize that God indeed provides them. 00:32:58.539 --> 00:33:03.140 as an opportunity for ministry development. Now 00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:06.599 there's a third and final statement that I want 00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:09.680 us to look at, and that is that conflict properly 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:13.920 managed becomes the door to more effective ministry. 00:33:14.740 --> 00:33:18.240 Now the key to that statement is properly managed. 00:33:19.539 --> 00:33:22.559 Because conflict can destroy a church if it's 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:27.619 allowed to. I know of a church... hundreds of 00:33:27.619 --> 00:33:31.460 miles from here, that is facing this at the present 00:33:31.460 --> 00:33:35.319 moment. Conflict has been ignored for years. 00:33:36.500 --> 00:33:40.319 It has not been faced honestly. And because that 00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:43.779 conflict has not been managed properly, the church 00:33:43.779 --> 00:33:48.059 is on the skids. And unless it's faced soon, 00:33:48.180 --> 00:33:52.500 the church is going to be destroyed. Conflict 00:33:52.500 --> 00:33:56.440 that is managed properly. however, becomes the 00:33:56.440 --> 00:33:59.799 door not to being diminished, not to a church 00:33:59.799 --> 00:34:03.220 languishing, but to it actually flourishing under 00:34:03.220 --> 00:34:06.240 the blessing of God. That is what happened here. 00:34:06.279 --> 00:34:09.840 Notice in verse 7, the word of God kept on spreading. 00:34:10.500 --> 00:34:12.840 It was being disseminated throughout the whole 00:34:12.840 --> 00:34:16.079 area. And it says the number of the disciples 00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:20.300 continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem. And 00:34:20.300 --> 00:34:22.980 it adds almost as a footnote, A great many of 00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:25.239 the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. 00:34:25.380 --> 00:34:29.380 Now, those were probably not Sadducees. You remember 00:34:29.380 --> 00:34:32.679 they were the vicious opponents of Christianity. 00:34:34.420 --> 00:34:38.139 These priests were probably out of the sect of 00:34:38.139 --> 00:34:42.260 the Pharisees. But it says many of them were 00:34:42.260 --> 00:34:45.159 becoming obedient to the faith. That is, they 00:34:45.159 --> 00:34:49.480 were trusting in Jesus as their Christ who had 00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:51.380 died for them and who had been raised from the 00:34:51.380 --> 00:34:56.280 dead. It may be that the great object lesson, 00:34:56.500 --> 00:34:59.460 the great illustration by God in the temple when 00:34:59.460 --> 00:35:03.380 Jesus was crucified led them to this point. Remember 00:35:03.380 --> 00:35:07.019 what happened? When Jesus died on the cross, 00:35:07.139 --> 00:35:11.920 the temple veil was torn in two by the hands 00:35:11.920 --> 00:35:16.940 of God from the top to the bottom. undoubtedly 00:35:16.940 --> 00:35:19.099 those priests who were used to being in that 00:35:19.099 --> 00:35:20.880 temple and seeing the curtain there separating 00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:22.739 them from the presence of God and the Holy of 00:35:22.739 --> 00:35:26.380 Holies were astounded when that curtain just 00:35:26.380 --> 00:35:31.579 tore in two and laid in two parts and the Holy 00:35:31.579 --> 00:35:35.019 of Holies was exposed to them for the first time 00:35:35.019 --> 00:35:40.239 in their lives. That was an illustration of the 00:35:40.239 --> 00:35:42.300 fact that out there on the cross, outside the 00:35:42.300 --> 00:35:46.119 city wall, the Son of God was dying. And through 00:35:46.119 --> 00:35:50.880 the offering up of his body, the veil was being 00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:54.360 torn in two, and the way of the presence of God 00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:58.639 was being opened up for all men. As these priests 00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:01.820 thought about that and pondered it, and as they 00:36:01.820 --> 00:36:04.780 heard the preaching of the apostles, it seems 00:36:04.780 --> 00:36:07.760 that many of them became obedient to the faith. 00:36:09.420 --> 00:36:12.320 I think it's important to note before we conclude 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:15.639 that It is not the job of leadership, it was 00:36:15.639 --> 00:36:17.940 not the job of the apostles either, to avoid 00:36:17.940 --> 00:36:23.659 conflict. That is impossible. Conflict is inevitable. 00:36:24.880 --> 00:36:27.800 In fact, if it becomes the job of leadership 00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:31.420 to avoid conflict, if that becomes the focus 00:36:31.420 --> 00:36:34.480 of their thinking and their doing, then leadership 00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:38.820 will be paralyzed out of fear. It will no longer 00:36:38.820 --> 00:36:43.469 have a vision and be aggressive. A church will 00:36:43.469 --> 00:36:46.150 lose its sense of mission and direction. It will 00:36:46.150 --> 00:36:50.150 lose its effectiveness if, in fact, the leaders 00:36:50.150 --> 00:36:55.070 begin to focus on avoiding conflict. The question 00:36:55.070 --> 00:36:58.130 is not how to avoid conflict. It's how to handle 00:36:58.130 --> 00:37:01.969 conflict. So don't expect that of the leaders 00:37:01.969 --> 00:37:05.030 of our church because that will ultimately only 00:37:05.030 --> 00:37:08.690 hinder the purpose of God. All of us need to 00:37:08.690 --> 00:37:11.030 understand that as in the early church, and by 00:37:11.030 --> 00:37:15.289 the way, this is but one example of many conflicts 00:37:15.289 --> 00:37:19.969 in the early church. We need to understand that 00:37:19.969 --> 00:37:22.849 conflict is inevitable and learn to deal with 00:37:22.849 --> 00:37:26.789 it in a godly manner. Certainly none of us should 00:37:26.789 --> 00:37:30.409 seek to be the tool to create conflict, but we 00:37:30.409 --> 00:37:33.550 should seek to be a part of the solution to conflict. 00:37:34.449 --> 00:37:37.920 We should prayerfully seek. Ask God, what is 00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:41.280 the answer in this conflict in my class or in 00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:45.599 this small church or in the broader church? Now, 00:37:45.619 --> 00:37:48.199 having said these things about church conflict, 00:37:48.460 --> 00:37:51.619 I want you to notice that these same three statements 00:37:51.619 --> 00:37:56.840 can be used about conflict in any level. For 00:37:56.840 --> 00:38:01.019 example, it can be said also about personal conflict 00:38:01.019 --> 00:38:05.460 that it is inevitable. That is a part of life. 00:38:06.440 --> 00:38:09.679 If you try to go through life avoiding conflict, 00:38:09.920 --> 00:38:12.860 you are going to run your way through life and 00:38:12.860 --> 00:38:17.119 be miserable. Conflict is a part of living. It's 00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:23.239 inevitable. But realize that conflict is a God 00:38:23.239 --> 00:38:25.659 -given opportunity for your personal development. 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:31.079 And that conflict properly managed in your life 00:38:31.079 --> 00:38:33.539 opens the door to more meaningful relationships 00:38:33.539 --> 00:38:37.940 with other people. There are some of you today 00:38:37.940 --> 00:38:42.159 facing conflict at work with a boss. Or maybe 00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:46.780 it's an employee. Maybe it's the neighbor across 00:38:46.780 --> 00:38:51.340 the back fence. Hey, you're going to have conflict. 00:38:52.800 --> 00:38:56.139 It's inevitable. But recognize that that is God's 00:38:56.139 --> 00:38:58.159 appointment for your development. And if you 00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:01.260 handle it right, it's actually going to open 00:39:01.260 --> 00:39:04.849 up more meaningful relationships for you. The 00:39:04.849 --> 00:39:07.090 same three principles are true in family conflict. 00:39:08.449 --> 00:39:12.869 Family conflict is inevitable. It will happen 00:39:12.869 --> 00:39:15.789 between husband and wife. It will happen between 00:39:15.789 --> 00:39:19.949 parents and children. But these conflicts are 00:39:19.949 --> 00:39:22.989 actually God -given opportunities for family 00:39:22.989 --> 00:39:27.809 development. So instead of regretting them, instead 00:39:27.809 --> 00:39:31.969 of hating them, instead of worrying over them, 00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:37.559 what God's opportunity is. Look for the positive 00:39:37.559 --> 00:39:41.760 in that conflict. And then handle it correctly, 00:39:41.940 --> 00:39:46.039 properly, and it will become the door to more 00:39:46.039 --> 00:39:49.360 effective child raising or a more satisfying 00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:51.800 husband -wife relationship than you've had to 00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:54.800 this point. You see how these principles apply 00:39:54.800 --> 00:39:59.860 to conflict? So how should we respond to conflict? 00:39:59.980 --> 00:40:03.360 Well, the way James tells us to. Count it all 00:40:03.360 --> 00:40:07.519 joy, my brethren, when you fall into various 00:40:07.519 --> 00:40:11.519 conflicts. Why? Because they're inevitable anyway. 00:40:12.719 --> 00:40:16.500 And because God has a purpose in them. That purpose 00:40:16.500 --> 00:40:19.440 is our development. And so that we can be more 00:40:19.440 --> 00:40:22.559 effective as we learn to manage those conflicts 00:40:22.559 --> 00:40:26.739 in a godly way. Well, we must pray. Let's close.