How to Avoid Land Mines

Acts 6:1-7

　
　
In July 2007 we rented a beach house in Charleston, South Carolina. It was for a family reunion that included my siblings and their spouses and children. There was twelve of us total. The house was huge and beautiful. My wife and I bought t-shirts for everyone for the occasion. It was a much-anticipated and long awaited family reunion.

It never occurred to me that there could be any squabbles. Although I have many good memories from that week, I choose to block out the not so good ones. Let’s just say that since that gathering we have limited our family reunions to a maximum of four days. That about says it all.

Maybe you can relate to this story. I’m pretty sure that the early church could. Today’s passage is about a situation that was so full of land mines that it could have easily blown up in the face of the church and divided them so badly that the Gospel would have been severely damaged.

First you have the Hellenistic Jews. They could have just grumbled and complained amongst themselves until there was a big blowup causing a rift in the church. To their credit they didn’t do that. Instead they approached the Twelve.

It could have been just as easy for the Twelve to pooh, poohed the problem. They could have said things like, "They’re just being overly sensitive" or "We don’t have time to listen to petty complaints". To their credit they didn’t do that. They listened and gave their full attention to the needs of their Greek sisters in Christ.

It also could have been easy for the men that were chosen to "wait on tables" to feel slighted. After all, why should they get stuck doing such a menial job? Certainly there were more important things for them to be doing like spreading the Gospel. They could have resented the Twelve as well as the Greek believers. But to their credit, they didn’t. They embraced the proposal.

In fact, everyone did. Verse five states, "This proposal pleased the whole group". How was it then that the early church avoided these land mines? Verse seven gives us insight, "So the word of God spread".

There was a single mindedness of spreading the Gospel. That mission took priority over everything else, including conflicts. As a result, there was a unity of purpose that drove their decisions. That’s a good lesson for us today.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%206%3A1-7&version=NIV;MSG
http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Acts.6.1-Acts.6.7