Acts 15: 1-3 - How Paul and Barnabas dealt with the persuasive "new" unorthodoxy
Jul 12, 2022
In this blog series, I’m going to take a look at the book of Acts from a strategic point of view. What was going on in the days of the early church and what can we learn from it today in the 21st Century?
Paul and Barnabas are back in Antioch after their first mission trip. And whilst you’d think they’d be sipping lemonade by the side of a pool, they’re right back involved. Some men from Judea have come and are bringing a “new” theology to the table.
I say “new” because it’s actually an old theology. Adherence to the law of Moses. The classic line of Judaism. But this time it’s slightly tweaked.
“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Notice the subtlety? It’s combining the old with the new. Essentially, it’s saying, “Yes Jesus saves, but only if you do the old thing we’ve always done.”
The new Orthodoxy
Paul and Barnabas take great exception to this. Why? Because the resurrection of Christ means that the game has changed. Neither Paul or Barnabas were on the scene at the very start of Acts. That means that the Gospel that they heard was what was taught to them. And taught to them by whom? The Apostles and by the Spirit.
There was a new orthodoxy that had superseded the old orthodoxy. The Apostles were appointed by Christ to teach people the new way. That means that even a familiar teaching of circumcision was now unorthodox teaching. This was not what they had received.
New winds of teaching
In the last few years, I’ve become more and more aware of the new teaching that is coming into the church that is just like what was happening in the book of Acts. The teaching has an element of sense to it, but at closer inspection, its unorthodox teaching. These new “teachers” are utilising all of the best methodologies to reach people: Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. And they’re doing it arguably more effective than we orthodoxians are.
These new winds of teaching are hitting on hot-button topics and are highly persuasive. And many people are being swayed by it. But’s it’s not the Gospel we received, so we need to be on our guard.
What Paul and Barnabas did here is a great template for us to follow:
- Be ready to defend what you believe
We usually think of the work of apologetics as talking to unbelievers about the reason for our faith, perhaps using arguments for the existence of God to defend the faith.
The new apologetics is inside the church, and it’s defending orthodoxy. Paul and Barnabas knew what they believed and were ready to debate the topic to defend it.
As church leaders, we cannot be ignorant the theologies attempting to gain a foothold in our church. We need to be vigilant watchers, making sure we are prepared at any moment.
James Clear provides a three sentence summary for the timeless book, The Art of War by Sun Tzu. This is his summary:
“Know when to fight and when not to fight: avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak. Know how to deceive the enemy: appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak. Know your strengths and weaknesses: if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
The enemies of the Gospel we have received are adept at all these things. They strike at what is weak, appear weak when they are strong, and strong when they are weak. They know their strengths and weaknesses and know us and themselves very well.
We’ve got to be better prepared for battle.
A great example of being prepared is William Lane Craig - notable theologian, philosopher and debater. He is known for being such a strong debater because he know the arguments of the other side better than they do! He is so well prepared, he has already mapped out the objections and rebuttals ahead of time. So when his opponent gives a response, he knows exactly how to respond.
We need to have that level of preparation. We need to equip our leaders and congregations to have that level of theological prowess. The unorthodox Christian movements were born out of people who used to be part of the church, they know us better than we do. We need to employ some battle tactics to our defence.
- Look to authority
The next thing Paul and Barnabas do is make the journey to Jerusalem to see the Apostles. Whilst they are on the forefront of the advance of the Gospel, they’re still under the authority of the Apostles who started it all. That doesn’t mean they’ll go blindly along with everything they said. Paul says in Galatians that he confronted Peter because he “stood condemned”. The point here is that the authority is Christ, not people. But that doesn’t rule out people. Paul and Barnabas didn’t just appeal to Christ, they submitted to authority by going to Jerusalem.
Who is our human authority? Firstly, it is to the historical church. The church has a 2000-year history of orthodoxy, and we throw that out at our peril. Every “new” theology is a re-hashed version of an old heresy, and there is usually an early church council that has dealt with it. We forget that we stand on the shoulders of giants theologically. Men and women who died to defend the orthodox Gospel handed down to them. Just because they lived hundreds of years ago doesn’t make them less intelligent. Far from it. These giants of the faith spent much more time studying, thinking and talking about these things than we ever could in the 21st Century.
Secondly, we should engage with our denominations. Just like Paul and Barnabas travelled to the Jerusalem headquarters, we need to be talking with our denominations about the new theologies that are trying to invade the church. Denominations are helpful in that they provide accountability outside of our own context. For the non-denominational churches, it’s important that you adhere to a strong statement of faith that is based on historical Christianity as without outside oversight, you’ll be more susceptible.
- Carry on with what you’re doing
What I love from this passage is that Paul and Barnabas carry on with what their mission was to do whilst on their way to Jerusalem. They pass by Phoenicia and Samaria, telling of the news of Gentiles converting. They were not being swayed in their mission. They knew the call to the ends of the earth, and that it was the fulfilment of the promised to Abraham that through Israel (spiritual, not physical) all nations would be blessed.
When these new theologies come along, it can tempt us to deviate from our course, or to pause it all together whilst we figure it out. But the mission is too important, we must continue forward, even before we’ve made it to Jerusalem to discuss the matter. This is why a mission statement is so important for a church. It gives a long through line for a church. It’s an unchanging mandate for the church. Paul and Barnabas stuck to their mission, let’s stick to ours.
Clarity is king
For Paul and Barnabas, they knew the Gospel they received, but it was important to get clarity from Jerusalem. In our churches, let's strive for theological clarity on issues. We need to be clear not just on what we believe, but how we come to believe what we believe – our epistemology. If we can provide our congregations with the tools to process what they’re hearing and to be able to critically analyse and accept and reject as appropriate, we will help our congregations to be ready for battle that’s already here.
