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“Should Not Trouble”
“Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God” Acts 15:19. The church in Antioch had a problem: conversion growth from the community around them occurred as the lost were obeying the gospel in great numbers but didn’t much act like the church they had always known. But, after all, how could these “unchurched” gentiles be expected to know the traditions and laws for something they had never been a part of before? Up to this point, the church had been like their community because a lot of baby-to-believer and transfer growth had made many “churched” disciples, but God had made a change that opened a door for the unchurched to become His followers too. They welcomed them in because they knew that a church that no longer looked like its community would soon die, but shouldn’t the community coming in be made to look like the church they were coming into? The advice they sought told them not to trouble the unchurched who have obeyed the unchanged gospel but to teach them to not put anything before God and not become like the world once again that they’ve just escaped. How can we not trouble the lost in our community?
