Unity in the church is crucial to fulfill the Great Commission, even if it means uncomfortable discussions, humility, taking time to listen and silence to be guided by the Holy Spirit, delegates heard at a morning plenary session at the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Incheon, Korea.
Anne E. Zaki, professor of preaching and practical theology at The Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, Egypt, focused on two narratives to support these views as a form of encouragement: the early church meeting in Acts 15 and a Hollywood movie based on a real life story about athletes working together.
“The Church together is us,” Zaki told delegates, looking to the first church as inspiration for her views. “It is time we restored the lost art of church discussions, the art of talking and listening to each other, even to those who oppose our views on how to interpret the Bible or how to worship or who should lead in the church or which country to bless and which nation to curse.”
Zaki gave an indepth overview of the disciples meeting to discuss the church in Antioch and other matters during the Council of Jerusalem, as recorded in Acts. This involved sharply opposing views on matters of religious customs but the believers stayed at what Zaki called “the first church council in church history” throughout the debate, until a Godly conclusion was reached.
“It is time we learn from the early church the discipline of creating safe spaces to give ourselves a chance to reconsider our presumed positions in light of what's at stake, namely the unity and mission of the community of God,” said Zaki.
This Biblical exegesis about unity was placed in a modern context by Zaki referencing a Hollywood film, “The Boys in the Boat” released last year 2023, and directed by George Clooney.
The plot follows eight young athletes from the University of Washington having to learn conformity as a whole in order to win the Olympics. A key part of this success was a change of the coxswain, the ninth person in the boat, compared by Zaki to the Holy Spirit, who gives the eight athletes direction [see below].
Zaki recounts how a rowing coach in the movie gets frustrated at his inability to get the young men to work together as a team. He observes that the group are juxtaposed as both the strongest and weakest crew he’s ever seen.
“They were all strong in their own right but they didn't know how to use their strengths to fight together instead of fighting each other,” Zaki said. “I would probably describe the Antiochian Church using the same words: the strongest group, but the weakest crew. Why? Because they were using their strength to fight each other instead of fighting together.”
Zaki then retold the story of Paul and Barnabas sharply opposing some Judean men who taught the Jewish rite of circumcision to gentiles at the church in Antioch.
“Paul and Barnabas, of course, were deeply disturbed by this teaching because it undermined the death and resurrection of Jesus as the only assurance of salvation, and it threatened the oneness the Holy Spirit had already created between Jews and Gentile believers.”
The resulting disagreement brought a concern about false teaching not only in Antioch but possibly in other churches planted in the time of Acts. Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with the other apostles. Zaki noted that regular believers, not just church leaders, were involved in these theological discussions.
At the meeting in Jerusalem, with the “apostles, elders and engaged believers” there followed honest discussions, despite opposing views by some of those gathered. Some believers who originated from the Pharisees, known for hardline religious teaching, agreed with the Judean men in Antioch that circumcision was needed for gentiles.
“Still, people stayed together in the meeting, still people continued to discuss,” observed Zaki.
The apostle Peter then addressed the council and Zaki noted this as “remarkable” because of the courageous leadership shown by him. She compared this to church leaders who seemingly stay silent during times of conflict and crises.
“Peter steps out and puts his neck on the line for the sake of his gospel partners, Paul and Barnabas, but even more so for the sake of the truth that he himself learned from a painful experience.”
This pain stemmed from Peter’s recent visit to Antioch where he accepted Paul’s admonition for “hypocritical behavior” by withdrawing from gentiles during meals because of a fear of what his Jewish brothers would say. At the Council of Jerusalem, however, Zaki noted a “changed Peter, a corrected Peter, a Peter who has been won over by his brother Paul after a successful confrontation according to the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 18.”
“And I wonder,” she added, “if Peter's courage to speak up in Jerusalem was not in part inspired by Paul's courage to speak up to Peter in Antioch as iron sharpens iron. So one man sharpens another, but imagine with me an opposite scenario. What if Paul had never confronted Peter in Antioch, what would have happened to the faith of Barnabas and the other antiochian believers?”
Zaki opined that if Peter had never been corrected, and subsequently had not spoken up at the Council of Jerusalem, it would have threatened the unity of the first church, and affected the theology inherited by evangelicals today.
“And so I ask this question of our church leaders today,” Zaki challenged delegates with probing questions. “What happens when we cover up the wrong behavior of our co-leaders or when we fail to courageously confront wrong teachings about what is required for salvation?
“For example, false teachings that salvation could be earned through good works or through despising one's body?”
“What happens when church leaders are silent before wrong teachings and stand still instead of confronting polarizing gatekeepers that divide believers into camps?”
These “camps” may lean less towards the Jews and Gentiles, as they did for the first church, but can be seen, according to Zaki, through the polarization of other demographics affecting fellowship: young and old, rich and poor, illiterate and educated men and women, disabled and able bodied.
Staying silent in “moments of truth” can put the future of the overall church at stake, although Zaki admitted that “breaking the silence comes at a great cost.” Jesus himself confronted hypocrisy and false teaching of religious leaders, she said. “It cost him his life and it’s been costing his followers their lives ever since, sometimes physically, most times psychologically.”
Zaki believed that every missional community will pay the cost eventually, for standing up for truth.
“The question is, will it be the cost of staying silent and letting false teaching divide us or will it be the cost of breaking the silence and teaching true teachings that should unite us?”
In the apostle Peter’s case, he “broke the silence” and reminded the council about the grace of God the Holy Spirit given to the gentiles as much as the Jewish believers.
Zaki went further to say that Jesus made no clear distinction between believers: “Jews and gentiles, liberals and conservatives, modern and traditional complementarians and egalitarians, foreign missionaries and indigenous leaders, he made no distinction between people belonging to various races or political affiliations as long as they have been baptized in Christ and clothed themselves with Christ: for in Christ we are all one.”
Zaki heeded a warning from this scripture to not divide “where Jesus has united” or distinctions “where Jesus has made none.” Furthermore, the discussions reported in Acts resulted in a foundational theological statement by Peter about grace and an observation relevant today that, in Zaki’s interpretation “twisting God’s word in a way that divides God’s people” is an act of treason, which obstructs God’s mission.
Then Zaki noted the whole assembly listened in a “convicted silence, a convinced silence” to Paul and Barnabas reporting about their evangelistic activities, having been reminded and reorientated directly about the truth of Christ.
This is followed by the apostle James suggesting a letter asking the gentiles to adhere to four requirements - “abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood” - but no more, to ensure no obstructions for non Jews turning to Christ. Zaki deemed this a wise act to maintain unity. As the Jewish believers had to make a concession about circumcision, so Gentiles had to make concessions on other matters, to keep the bond of peace.
Zaki also pointed to a challenge for modern churches in the declaration, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and us” used in this letter, taken by Paul, Barnabas and other chosen men to Antioch. The declaration may be an often favored biblical quote but “do we understand the process by which the early church arrived at such a declaration?” she asked.
“It was a process of talking with each other, not to each other or about each other,” said Zaki. “It was a process that took long hours of disputes and debates back in Antioch, followed by long hours of discussion in Jerusalem among people who held opposing views on the same matter.
“Imagine with me how much time, effort, and money would have been saved if only the false teachers in Antioch would have listened and recanted.
“Imagine if Paul and Barnabas wouldn't have had to interrupt their ministry, leave it behind and suffer a long journey from Antioch to Jerusalem and back again to settle this most basic question about salvation.”
Even so, the unfolding of events showed the early church was “real” and comparable to the church of today in dealing with such distractions. Although the Holy Spirit worked through the apostles, they had to “puzzle” over theological issues and deal with opposing views.
“I'm grateful because this incident shows us the price and the process by which we arrive at a declaration like ‘it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us’ – a declaration born out of daily prayer, out of a commitment to the teaching of the word, out of breaking bread together and out of remarkable generosity; a declaration that preserves the voice of the church and is reserved for the voice of the church, the entire church together, including people who hold opposing views.”
Zaki also referenced Paul writing in Philippians to be unified in love and practice discernment without being distracted over trivial matters.
“Part of the discernment is to recognize the urgency of our call,” added Zaki. “The early church truly believed that Jesus was coming back soon, that the harvest was plenty, that the laborers were few and that the Great Commission could not be fulfilled with only a part of the church. Everyone was needed.”
Using The Boys in the Boat again as an illustration, Zaki said the early church had to become a strong crew fighting together rather than fighting each other. The Holy Spirit as “the right coxswain” is critical to missional success.
“He's not among the rowing athletes, but he's critical to the success of the team. While the eight athletes row facing backwards, the coxswain faces forward making him the only person on the boat qualified to set the direction and the pace of the boat,” said Zaki.
“He's the only one capable of letting the athletes know where they stand in the race and what's needed to win it. The Holy Spirit is the only all capable coxswain of this boat in the church. He's the only one qualified to set the direction and the pace for how best to finish our race. The Holy Spirit brings a certain clarity and unity to humbled egos that are willing to be transformed and reformed continually by God.”
For Zaki, the issue resolved in Acts brings a larger question for evangelism today. What requirements are needed by evangelicals, “in our freedom in Christ,” to remove any obstacles for non-believers?
“What should we abstain from in our thoughts, words, deeds and relationships in order to maintain fellowship with our believing brothers and sisters without compromising the truth of the gospel?”
However, despite the difficulties in such discussions, the removal of any threats to unity brings great joy in the Holy Spirit, according to Zaki, just as the first church experienced in Acts. She hoped the Trinity’s investment in church unity will bear the “fruit of peace and justice” for Christian communities living in areas of the world where conflicts currently rage.
“The Holy Spirit still offers us the same joy and consolation today when truth telling replaces our fearful silence. Unity is restored and we are released to peacefully resume our mission as a church.
“It's then that we can declare and display the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer: ‘Father, I want them to be one just like you and I are one.’”
