Churches in Transition: Antioch

Back in the early part of this century, some residents of Brooklyn moved out into this area of Long Island and settled in a little hamlet called Piersall’s Corners. As the population grew, they decided to incorporate as a village. Looking for an appropriate name, they simply decided to reverse the syllables of Brooklyn, and that is how the Village of Lynbrook got its name. As far as we know, there is only one Lynbrook in the United States today.

That was not the case with the city of Antioch in the New Testament. The name Antioch was not unique. In fact, there were sixteen cities named Antioch scattered around the eastern Mediterranean in the first century AD. But one of those Antiochs had a group of people in it that was going to make a unique impact on world history.

The story of Antioch begins in 333 BC. Alexander the Great had just defeated the Persians in Asia Minor. He turned the corner of the Mediterranean to march down into the Middle East. Along the way, he stopped at a spring to drink and found the water so refreshing that he declared that someday a city should be built there.

Ten years later, Alexander was dead. The man who had conquered most of the known world was killed by a mosquito bite. He died of malaria. Alexander hadn’t left an heir to his throne, so his empire was divided up among his top generals. One of them, Seleucus by name, took control of the territory around the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. He went back to that spring where Alexander had taken a drink and founded a city there. He named it after his father, whose name was Antiochus. The city became known as Antioch.

It was a pretty place, situated on the banks of the Orontes River at the foot of Mount Silpius. The climate was good, and in the warm summer, the sea breezes always came up the valley from the Mediterranean. There were many parks in the city, with fountains and cyprus trees.

Over the years, Antioch became popular as a resort. Many kings and emperors spent their summers there. They built villas and bath-houses and theaters, and Antioch had a rich cultural life as a crossroads of Eastern and Western culture. Antioch’s population grew until, by the time of Jesus, it was the third largest city of the Roman Empire.

But meanwhile, 300 miles south of Antioch, there was another city where momentous events were taking place. Outside the walls of Jerusalem, Jesus was crucified in 30 AD, and rose again and ascended into heaven. His Jewish followers, forming the first church in Jerusalem, began to make an impact. Although most people thought at first that this group was just an offshoot of Judaism, it soon became obvious that they were quite different.

They claimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by his death and resurrection, he had made people right with God. There was no longer a need for the Jewish Law, or for the sacrifices at the Temple.

As you can imagine, their views caused quite a stir, and the religious authorities were quick to take action. A persecution broke out against them, especially against those Jewish believers who were ready to make a clean break with Judaism. One of them, Stephen by name, was seized and stoned to death. The rest had to flee for their lives.

They went far and wide, telling other Jews the Gospel of Jesus. Some of them reached Antioch, and in addition to sharing the good news with the Jewish community there, they began to preach it to the Gentiles as well. And we read in…

Acts 11:21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

That was the beginning of the church at Antioch, a church which was going to have an enormous impact on the future of Christianity. The church at Antioch, even more than the church at Jerusalem, became a launching pad for the spread of the Gospel into the Gentile world. As non-Jews, we trace our spiritual roots back to the church at Antioch. It was because of their faith, and their vision that we are here today.

There are two things about that church that I want you to know. Because as LBC faces a time of transition over the next few months, these are things that you need to make sure happen here.

1. The church at Antioch kept growing through conflict.

2. The church at Antioch kept serving through change.

The church at Antioch was famous for a number of firsts. It was the first church that was made up mainly of non-Jewish believers. It was the first truly Gentile church.

It was the first church to send out missionaries as a deliberate act of church policy. They sent out Paul and Barnabas to preach the Gospel in Cyprus and Asia Minor (present day Turkey).

Antioch was the first church ever to have a missionary conference. When Paul and Barnabas came back from their first missionary journey, they reported to the congregation everything that had happened, and how God had blessed them in their work.

They were the first church ever to take up an offering to help another church in need. Around 45 AD, during the reign of Emperor Claudius, there was a severe famine throughout the Roman world. The province of Judea was especially hard hit. So the church at Antioch took up a collection and sent it down to the church at Jerusalem to help their Christian brothers and sisters buy groceries. It was the first church to have a deacons’ fund.

And last but not least, Antioch was the first church where the followers of Jesus became known as Christians. Prior to this, they had called themselves saints, or brethren, or believers, or people of the Way. But somebody in Antioch, probably an enemy of the church, came up with this label “Christian”, intending it as a slur, and it stuck. (Like we call members of the Unification Church “Moonies”, because they follow Sun Myung Moon.) The believers at Antioch were followers of Jesus, the Christ, so they became known as Christians.

But for all its firsts, the church at Antioch was not a perfect church. That congregation went through a number of crises and conflicts. And that will be true of any congregation. There will be problems.

There is no such thing as a perfect church. If you think you have found one, don’t join it, because then it won’t be perfect anymore! What I’m trying to say is that the church is made up of people, and wherever you have people, you’re going to have conflict. That was true in the first century, and it will be true in the twenty-first century. Just remember that if you’re ever tempted to switch churches.

It’s how a church handles conflict that determines how healthy that church is. And that’s what is so neat about the church at Antioch; they kept growing through conflict. They didn’t fragment. They didn’t shatter. They didn’t shut down or stop growing.

What were some of the conflicts that the church at Antioch faced?

We read in Acts 15:1 that some Jewish Christians came from Jerusalem and tried to insist that the Gentile Christians at Antioch had to adopt Jewish customs and Jewish ways in order to truly be saved. They wanted the Gentile believers to observe the Jewish Law. They wanted them to be circumcised.

And there’s more to this story than first meets the eye. In Galatians ch.2, Paul tells us that Peter was in Antioch at that time, and he became part of the problem.

Galatians 2:11 When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.

The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

Here is a potentially explosive situation. You have two strong leaders, and they are at odds over a theological issue. I guess you might say that Antioch was where you had the first big theological problem in the church.

You have to understand that the church in Jerusalem was mainly concerned with evangelizing the Jews. And in Judea at that time, the Jews were becoming increasingly antagonistic toward the Gentiles. The Jews hated the Romans. There was an ultra-nationalistic group known as the Zealots who had absolutely no use for anyone who was not a Jew. Racial tension was rising.

Now in the midst of all this, the believers in Jerusalem were trying to win over the Jews to Christianity. But if the Jews heard that the Christian church also included Gentiles, they wouldn’t want to have any part of it, unless those Gentiles were made to come under the Jewish Law.

So some of the Christians in Jerusalem said “That’s the answer. Just have the Gentiles become Jews and then they can join the church.”

The Apostle Peter had already begun building bridges to the Gentiles. Remember, he went to Caesarea and preached the Gospel to Cornelius and his household. Cornelius was a Roman soldier. Peter was one of the leaders of the Jerusalem church. He went up to Antioch, where he sat down to eat and have fellowship with the Gentile Christians there. Everything was fine. No problem.

But the news of what he was doing in Antioch got back to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem and it created quite a stir. The Pharisees and the enemies of the church were probably saying “Look at this! One of the leaders of your little group is actually hob-nobbing with Gentiles up there in Antioch. So how Jewish does that make you?”

That is why those “certain men from James” went up to Antioch. They went to tell Peter “Cool it, man. Back off! We’re getting clobbered down here in Jerusalem because you’re up there eating and drinking with Gentiles. Either those Gentile Christians have to start observing the Jewish Law, and become Jewish proselytes, or you cannot have fellowship with them.”

And their influence was so great, and their argument was so persuasive, that Peter backed off. And even Barnabas was swayed. They withdrew from fellowshiping with the Gentiles. This was a major problem!

Now it is a good thing that Paul spoke up. And there is every indication that after he had a word with Peter and Barnabas, they got things straightened out. But that didn’t make the problem go away. Because the Jews from Jerusalem were still insisting that the Gentiles had to become Jews in order to be a part of the church.

The result was that the church at Antioch decided to send a delegation down to Jerusalem. Why did they do that? Well, Jerusalem was where the apostles were. And remember, the apostles’ teaching provided the doctrinal foundation of the church. Jesus had given his apostles that authority.

You have to remember that the New Testament Scriptures had not yet been written. If you wanted to know what the apostles’ teaching was, you had to get it from the apostles personally.

So the church at Antioch said “Let’s get back to the authoritative source for Christian truth. Let’s check this matter out with the apostles. We need to let them settle this issue of whether or not Gentile converts to Christianity have to observe the Jewish Law.” And that’s exactly what they did. They sent a delegation, led by Paul and Barnabas, up to Jerusalem. They had a big conference.

And that was the first church council; the Jerusalem Council, which we read about in Acts 15. The result of that council was that the apostles said “No. Gentile Christians don’t have to become Jews in order to be saved. They don’t have to observe the Jewish Law.” And they sent out a letter to that effect to all the churches. Peter was in agreement with it, James was in agreement with it, and Paul was in agreement with it.

So what’s the lesson in this for us? The lesson is simply this: When a theological question comes up in the church, you’ve got to go back to the apostles’ teaching, which in our case, means go back to the NT and find out what it says.

That sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? But you’d be surprised at how many churches never get around to doing this! They argue and fight about things without ever opening the Bible to really hear what it has to say. They don’t place themselves under the authority of the Word of God.

Matters of personality and pride become so important that even the leaders of the church become unwilling, at times, to admit when they are wrong.

Well, I wish that I could tell you that they all lived happily ever after, but they didn’t. No sooner had Paul and Barnabas arrived back in Antioch than they had another falling out with each other. And this time Paul was in the wrong.

On their first missionary journey, which is described in Acts 13 & 14, Paul and Barnabas had taken along John Mark. John Mark was just a young guy, and he was a cousin of Barnabas. Halfway through the journey, for whatever reason, John Mark dropped out. Maybe he was scared, maybe he was homesick, we don’t know. But he left and went home. He quit.

Now, they were planning to go out on another missionary journey, and Barnabas wanted to take John Mark again. But Paul said “No way. He bailed out on us once, he’ll probably do it again. He’s not coming.” But Barnabas wanted to give him another chance.

Acts 15:39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company.

Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and went to Asia Minor.

This looks really good doesn’t it? Your top two missionaries can’t even get along with each other! Another church fight looms on the horizon in Antioch. This one isn’t over doctrine, it’s over personalities.

Paul is a classic Type A personality. He’s a gung-ho, full-speed ahead type of guy. Anybody gets in his way, he runs over them. Cross him once and you’re dead meat.

Barnabas is totally different. He’s more sensitive. He’s more patient, more forgiving. He’s willing to give people a second chance.

This whole issue revolved around personalities, and a lot of church conflicts do. We try to make out like there are doctrinal issues involved, when what is really at the bottom of it is personalities.

Well, the way that this thing turned out is that instead of having one missionary team, you ended up with two: Paul and Silas went to Asia Minor, and Barnabas and John Mark went to Cyprus. The church at Antioch didn’t split over the issue, they kept growing through the conflict.

And in the end, John Mark turned out to be a pretty neat guy. He’s the one who wrote the Gospel of Mark. And even Paul came around to admit that he had been wrong, because, near the end of his life when he’s in a dungeon at Rome, he writes to Timothy and says:

2 Timothy 4:11 Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.

Paul became more of a people person as he grew in the Lord, and I trust that you and I will too. The believers at Antioch grew through conflict. They handled it Biblically, and the ministry went on.

2. They also kept serving God through change.

Acts 13:1-3 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

One of the neat things about the church at Antioch is that they went through a leadership transition without missing a beat. They were having a great time, with a year round Bible conference featuring some of the greatest preachers ever. Barnabas was there, and Paul, and some other pretty powerful teachers as well. This fellow Simeon may have been the man who carried the cross for Jesus along the Via Dolorosa. Imagine the hush when he got up to speak.

Some people think that Lucius of Cyrene is none other than Doctor Luke, the man who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts.

This fellow Manaen had been brought up with Herod Antipas - the man who had had John the Baptist beheaded. But he had become a Christian. Imagine the testimony he had!

But right in the middle of all this great teaching and worshiping, the Holy Spirit said “I want to take your two best guys and send them away.” How would you feel if you were a member of the church at Antioch? You’re going to lose two of your top leaders.

Well, thank God, that congregation believed that God knew what he was doing! And if God said that he wanted those two men to move on, they weren’t going to stand in the way. So they fasted and prayed and placed their hands on them, which is a sign of blessing and prayer, and sent them off. No sense of panic. No sense of “What do we do now?” They knew that the Lord who had called these men out was the Lord of the church. And they just kept serving him through the transition.

Do you see the point as it pertains to LBC? In the next two months, this church is going to lose two leaders. But that’s no cause for panic. We’ve sent out leaders before, and we’ve kept serving, and God has kept blessing.

Listen to some of these names: Larry and Mary Nees; Andy and Linda Brucato; Charlie and Joan Pollino; Pete and Cheryl Jansson; Darryl and Samisteen Harris; Dan and Nancy Oliveros; Jim and Madeline Graf; Jay and Chris Mullally; Wayne and Cheryl Edwards; Byron and Dorothy King; Larry and Anita Caldwell; Lyndburg and Myrtle Wedderburn; Bob and Nancy Colpitts; Art and Vanja Johnson; Larry and Dotty Kerner; Ed and Ruth Jones; Augie and Debbie Castellano; Gail Halstead; Juan and Ida Lugo; Ed and Lee Gideon;

These were faithful people! People who were an integral part of the ministry here. People who were leaders. And what happened when they left? The church kept going, because the congregation kept serving, and the Lord kept blessing. And that will keep happening in the days to come. God is sovereign. He is still on his throne. And he has good things in store for LBC. So don’t you give up! Don’t be discouraged!

The church at Antioch was a church in transition. They kept growing through conflict. And they kept serving through change.