The issue is whether Gentiles, who eat non-kosher foods and are not circumcized, can be part of this new movement, which began firmly and unapologetically among Jews. This may be one of the biggest, most divisive, and yet most defining controversies ever in the history of the church, and it happens in the first twenty years.
Application: In any group of people--a church, a family, a town, a country--we sometimes think back to a certain period of time as "the good old days". For a marriage it could be the early time of dating. For a relationship with a child it could be when they were too young to talk back. Many Christians tend to idealize the "Early Church", the time of the first Apostles, as "the good old days," as though if we could just get back to that, everything would be great. The problem is: 1) You can't, and 2) it wasn't as great as you think it was. Read the letter to the Galatians. There's division. There's anger. There's pain. And yet in the midst of it, the Gospel of Jesus Christ rings true. Maybe even more so knowing things were never perfect.
We can surely learn from the past. But I think the main thing we can learn is that it had plenty of challenges, and God led the people through them. God will lead us, too.
Prayer: God, never in all history has humankind been totally united. And yet you have led us even through our divisions. Thank you Lord. Amen.
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