Acts 15:13-19
When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me. Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things that have been known for ages.’ It is my judgment, therefore that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.”
Reflection
This passage shows us that James helped the church focus its direction outward rather than choosing an inward focus that was all about the people who were already believers. James is willing to give up many things that he considered to once be sacred so that the church could change to reach more people with the salvation of Jesus Christ.
That is a choice the church must always wrestle with. Do we cling to traditions, rituals and the rallying cry, “We’ve always done it this way” or do we remain open to a new move of the Spirit that will help us reach people with the love, light and life of Jesus Christ. Even though it can be hard we need to reflect the attitude of James and always choose to develop and transform the church into something that will make the message of Jesus available to more people.
Can you think of one way the church can change something we are doing in order to reach more people for Christ?
If that change affected you directly would you be willing to make that change?
