“Then they said to him, ‘You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do?’” (Acts 21:20–22)
Rumors and the distortion of the truth clearly goes back to the earliest church. It’s nothing new. In the face of significant change, reason and reality are less believable and less attractive than half-truths, rumors, and gossip.
The answer to the Jerusalem’s church leaders question “What shall we do?” was to “prove” to the Christian Jews that Paul lived, reflected, and taught as a law-abiding and Kosher Jew. But less than a week later, the results of their efforts are clear to see when Paul visits the temple. Those who opposed the changes that Paul was advocating cried out: “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place” (28). Then they cap off their complaint with an assumption: “… and besides, he brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place” (28). Half-truths, rumors, gossip, and lies.
Here’s the lesson for us: This happens EVERYWHERE and EVERYTIME significant change comes to the church. Those who are unhappy with the change will complain. They will point out anything that’s somehow different as an example that their preferences are being subverted (as if what “used to be” had been so effective). And they will latch onto and perpetuate half-truths, distortions, rumors, and flat-out lies in order to persuade the weak willed, the uninformed, the absent, and the unobservant to rise up and demand a return to the status quo … to return to Egypt so to speak.
BUT remember the lesson: This happens EVERYWHERE and EVERYTIME there’s change. It’s NORMAL. It’s a part of the process. And when the church’s leadership stays the course, the changes become the norms. The norms become traditions. And the “new” becomes the “old.” And eventually the process will begin all over again when cultural changes necessitates change in order to communicate the gospel effectively.
There’s another lesson to be gleaned from this passage, but in this case it’s a lesson that is taught from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. That lesson is that the majority never – not once – not a single time – ever “get it right.” Whenever the majority rules in the Bible it’s a tea-total disaster – and there is not a single instance in the Bible that shows otherwise.
The sad reality is that the majority always eschews change. Personal comfort and status quo are cultures’ core values – and even most believers tend to embrace these cultural values. That’s perhaps the key reason change is so difficult in the church. But the church’s core values must match and support the mission and the vision of the church’s founder and CEO: Make Disciples. Make both new disciples and better disciples. And the “proof” of a better disciple is that they bear fruit, that is, they are making more disciples (it’s a vicious circle J).
The church must make adjustments … a nice word for “change” … with every generation so that we can more effectively reach the lost, the missing, and the uninformed for Jesus. As a church aligns itself with Jesus’ core practices and values, these changes are inevitable. And when change is inevitable, conflict and complaints and unfortunate behavior in the church are inevitable as well. It’s normal. Get used to it. Steer the course through the stormy seas and the winds will just as inevitably become favorable once again.
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