The Mission & Hardship (Acts 15:36–41)

And after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are.” Now Barnabas wanted to take with them, John called Mark, but Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches.
– Acts 15:36–41

So amidst all the amazing, breathtaking, jaw-dropping, incredible things we see happening in the book of Acts as the gospel is spreading, the church is multiplying, and yet it’s not easy.

Acts 15:36–41 Narrates Difficulties Among the Early Church

Acts 15 is full of not easy, as there’s a huge discussion in Jerusalem about all of these gentiles who are coming into the church. What do we do with them? How to relate to Jewish law? And then at the end of Acts 15, we see Paul and Barnabas, who in Acts 13–14 were going and we were reading about the word spreading throughout the whole region and everybody from the city gathering together to hear the word.

But now Paul and Barnabas have a sharp disagreement. That’s the language that Acts 15:39 uses in such a way that they part ways. Barnabas takes John, called Mark, with him and they go in one direction and Paul chooses Silas and they depart in another direction. So apparently things weren’t all perfect in the early church in the first century. And amidst all of the incredible things that were happening, there were internal challenges in the church.

But we see here in Acts 15 that there is a way for internal challenges to not lead to the destruction of the church. Part of the reason I wanted to read that whole passage is because of the way it ends in Acts 15:41. Paul went through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches. So the whole chapter ends with this picture of churches being strengthened despite sharp disagreement among disciples of Jesus that actually leads them to go in different directions at this point.

Acts 15:36–41 Encourages Us to Prioritize the Mission Despite Disagreements

There’s a ton more we could talk about in this passage, but I just want to encourage each of us to realize there will likely be times in the church with other followers of Jesus where we have sharp disagreements. And clearly this was not an issue about which the word of God was clear. Obviously, when God gives us a clear word on something, we obey it. That’s a matter of obedience and disobedience.

This is a matter of wisdom. Should we take John, called Mark, with us or not? And Paul and Barnabas had different opinions, different, even convictions about that, but they could still go out and proclaim the gospel and they could still go out and strengthen the church even amidst that sharp disagreement.

And one of the things I pray for in particularly the church in my culture right now but really the church broadly, that we would have grace to be able to disagree with one another on issues of wisdom. Not issues where the word speaks directly and clearly and which we obey, but issues of wisdom and how to put obedience into practice. That we would be able to disagree charitably and lovingly and humbly, and even if we need to part ways, that we would do that in a way that doesn’t destroy the church, but leads to the strengthening of the church.

Acts 15:36–41 Encourages Us to Pursue Unity Despite Disagreements

God, we pray for this. We know, Jesus, this is so important to you. You, in John 17, prayed for our unity together around you. And as we think about all the different pictures of disagreement that we see in the New Testament after that, think about Romans 14–15 as Paul’s just pleading for the church at Rome, for the Christians there who have different convictions about what to eat or not to eat or what holidays to celebrate.

And the way you, through your word, exhort them to come together in unity around Jesus even with those different convictions. God help us to disagree with one another charitably, humbly, gently, peacefully. God, we confess, none of us have it all figured out. None of us are right about everything. None of us always make the right wise decision. And so we all pray for your help to make the wisest decisions possible.

And when we disagree about those decisions with other followers of Jesus, help us to love one another well we pray, and to glorify you as our Father through the unity we have around Jesus and your word and the mission you’ve given us in our family. I love this picture, God. May it be said of us that we were aggressively going after the strengthening of the church and the spread of the gospel. We’d love zeal for you and love and zeal for those who don’t know you even when we disagree as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Praying for the Kanembu People

And God, as we pray for unreached people today, for the Kanembu people of Chad and Niger, a million of them, Muslims, most of whom have never heard the gospel. God, help us to keep things in proper perspective, to move on from our disagreements over wisdom issues, and work together to get the gospel to the Kanembu people and thousands of other people groups like them who have never even heard it. God, we pray that you’d help us to come together in the body of Christ amidst even sharp disagreements for the sake of people who’ve never heard the gospel of Christ, like the Kanembu. May they be reached, O God we pray, through us. Help us, God, to be unified in reaching the nations with the good news of your grace in Christ. We pray all of this according to your word in Acts 15:36–41. Amen.