There occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another

Acts 15:36-16:15 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. ³⁸ But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹ And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. ⁴⁰ But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹ And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

16 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, ² and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. ³ Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴ Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe. ⁵ So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.

⁶ They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; ⁷ and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; ⁸ and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. ⁹ A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹ So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; ¹² and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. ¹³ And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

¹⁴ A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. ¹⁵ And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Today’s text begins saying:  After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”  Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also.  But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.  If Paul and Barnabas were divided, we should not be surprised that we also might experience sharp disagreements with other people in the church. We should not though allow our differences to stop us from continuing the work we are called to. Too often we focus on the division and lose sight of the vision. We focus on the fission and neglect the mission. There are times that churches will get so bogged down with disagreements that they squander weeks, months or years. It is better to do as Paul and Barnabas did, separating to serve Christ, than to remain together in opposition. Surely it is best to be in unity, but, we can find unity in the gospel even if we don’t have it with each other. Our unity is to be in Christ, not in opinions. By Paul and Barnabas separating, their ministry was actually multiplied, not divided. 

The text says:  Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him… Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe. So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily… They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;  and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them…   A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.  So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days.  Because Paul did not allow disagreement to become his focus, but rather he pushed on and expanded his ministry, he met Timothy, who would become his protégé. It is through that relationship that we have the scripture of Paul’s letters to Timothy. The churches that were established included Galatia and Philippi, also churches to whom Paul wrote important letters that are included in scripture. The text also mentions the church established in Thyatira. That church is one that was addressed in the letters to the churches in Revelation.

If Paul had allowed the disagreement with Barnabas to derail his ministry, the landscape of the early church would have been completely different. So too would the content of scripture have been changed. Like Paul, we too need to focus less on the disagreements we have with others and focus more on continuing in what God has called us to do. Who knows how the church today and the church of the future will be impacted, if we will not let disagreements become our focus and instead continue in our mission and vision?

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, for the example we have in the life of Paul, who did not allow anything to hinder him from fulfilling his calling to go and preach the gospel. We are each created uniquely by You for a purpose. Because we are all different there will be disagreements, but may we learn to allow them to multiply the work of the gospel, so that the world will know Jesus is the Christ.  Amen.