Acts 5 "Let God be Judge"

Acts 5 – Brandon Hatmaker “Let God be Judge”
Thursday, April 17, 2008



"Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." – Acts 5:35-39

We can learn a lot from this Pharisee named Gamaliel. He’s basically saying that time will tell, so stop attacking, stop putting so much focus on them and place it where it should be: Wherever it is that God is moving in their lives. If the apostles were found out to be wrong, relax, justice is Gods. All that the Pharisee’s would gain from this would be strife and struggle from trying to judge. He understood that such a huge movement coming with such blatant claims could not simply coast into longevity. Eventually the actions and claims will either be proven refining, or eventually exposing. Jesus basically said the same thing when He said that wisdom is proven by her actions.

Personally we can learn a lot from this. It’s our nature to focus on other’s issue more than we do our own. But before we can even begin to take a look at ourselves with an honest eye, we have to learn to stop spending so much time on criticizing or analyzing others. Not only is it not our responsibility, but we’ll save ourselves much angst in the process.

Corporately, there are so many fresh things happening in church today. As a Pastor, it’s exciting to realize that these movements are not necessarily new. Most are ancient. The drive for the church to exist outside of itself, movement towards social justice and an increased awareness of the needs of others (spiritual, emotional, physical, and relational), a method that places the ways of Jesus at the front of the vision, and a desire to show compassion and love as we offer grace (because God gives it to us). We have been in a season in which these efforts come packaged a little differently than that of the traditional church. In fact, now-a-days, it comes looking different from church to church, even within the missional or post-modern, emergent, emerging, attractional, blah… blah… blah… church realm.

Change is hard for most. Our response to change has been causing confusion, disunity, defensiveness (offensiveness) and a general lack of focus for several years now. While some seem to think this is a black and white issue, I think reality is showing us that it’s still one of the biggest struggles we face in the church today: To discern where we can agree, where we should disagree, and where we should agree to disagree.

I believe we should stand strong when it comes to theology and doctrine especially in foundational truths like Faith through Christ alone, authority of scripture, etc (assuming we pray diligently for discernment in how we take that stand) … but methodology is just going to be different from church to church, community to community, and leader to leader. Even if we agree to disagree, what do we gain from the pursuit of one another and offensive strikes (although they are defensive in nature)? When it is a theological or doctrinal stand, we should react considering the life patterns of Christ, and maybe even receive some wisdom from Gamaliel. In it, God’s movement was shown true. Don’t forget, the Pharisee’s were arguing about a HUGE doctrinal and theological difference. The difference was about something that was core to what they had always known. This was much more significant than whether or not we have a choir or band or consider ourselves attractional or missional. But even here, the principle remains: Be faithful to the vision God has given you and spend less time worrying about others who are not a part of your church, association, denomination, affiliation, network... etc.

Bottom line, change is hard, especially for us humans (Which includes most of us). Should we spend more time criticizing and dividing, or should we invest that time in leading and teaching our convictions and vision? How do we know if we are assisting or hurting the work of God? Is it absolutely necessary to talk about all that others are doing bad in order to show our way good? I have a feeling that if we are doing what is right, honorable, and within the vision God has given us… He will show it to be good. We don’t have to bring up the contrast. I’d rather give that time and emotional energy towards moving forward.

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday."

Isaiah 58:9b-10

Father, help me to live your renewed vision each day. Help me to chase after the things of you and trust what you are doing in each area of my life. I pray today not only for those who are far from you, but also for other pastors, other churches, and other believers whom I may never know. I pray that no matter their denomination, style, methods, or convictions, that they would seek Christ first, find comfort in that place, and lead others to do the same. I selfishly pray this for me as well.