I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 14-16

Luke makes a point that when Paul and Barnabas (and later Silas, I assume Barnabas continued to follow this practice after he went his separate way) arrived in a new town, they first went to the synagogue and preached the Gospel to the Jews, and converts to Judaism, there.  Only after some of the Jews began to object to their message, or the crowds grew too large for the synagogue, that they preached outside of the synagogues.  The exception to that was Philippi, which apparently did not have a synagogue.  I think that there is an important lesson for those seeking to spread the Gospel.  We should work with established groups who share our faith until they demonstrate an unwillingness to listen to the Holy Spirit.

I think it is worth a bit of time to look at what happened with the Jerusalem Council, as Luke describes it, because some of what happened is not obvious.  The process starts with a doctrinal dispute in Antioch of Syria: some Jewish believers were teaching that Gentiles needed to be circumcised, others, including Paul and Barnabas, disagreed.  The two groups argue and cannot reach agreement.  So, the church in Antioch sent a delegation to Jerusalem for guidance from the church there.

However, when they got there, no one really knew how this should be handled.  So, Paul and Barnabas reported to the whole congregation on how Gentiles had come to the Lord in Antioch and on their mission trip.  At this point, some of the believers stated that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised and follow the law of Moses.  This lead the Jerusalem church leaders to have a meeting to discuss the issue.  The meeting was clearly not cut and dry.  After everyone had a chance to have their say, Peter spoke up and brought up his experience with Cornelius.  Then Paul and Barnabas testified about the signs and wonders God had performed among the Gentiles.  Finally, James, the brother of Jesus, summarizes the conclusion the group had agreed upon.   I think it is noteworthy that the most prominent speakers spoke last, after everyone had a chance to have their say.