Controversy

There are a lot of situations in the New Testament that give insight into how Christians deal with controversy.  In this article, we will look at some of the ways that controversy is handled in the Bible.  

Initially we will look at how Jesus dealt with difficulties that were presented to Him.  We recall that Jesus became angry with the money changers, driving them out of the temple.  He also became angry with the Pharisees in the temple as recorded in Mark 3:5, "And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts...."  So we see that Jesus had His angry moments, what we might call 'righteous indignation.'  But we also must note that under great challenge, Jesus kept His cool. 

Matthew 22 is an interesting chapter that we could describe as a day of controversy.  We see the Pharisees challenging Jesus, asking if it is lawful to pay taxes or not.  Later the Sadducees tested Him by asking who a man would be married to in heaven if he had married multiple wives on earth.  Then a lawyer asked Him what the great commandment was in the law.  In all of this, Jesus stayed calm and gave brilliant answers, destroying any possibility of controversy before it could become a problem.  

In Acts 15 we find a controversy arising over the teaching by some who insisted on the practice of circumcision by Christians, wanting some to keep some aspects of the Jewish Law.  "Therefore, when Paul and Barnabus had no small dissension and  dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabus and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question."  Later, Paul and Barnabus had quite a disagreement about whether to take John Mark with them on the 2nd missionary journey.  It is noteworthy that strong Christians had controversies, serious ones, that had to be resolved.  We see that solutions were found without further trouble.

Then there is a lot said about the importance of Christians being of the same mind, cooperating, unifying and doing all things in love.  We can learn a lot about how to handle controversies when they arise.  They will arise....and we should act appropriately to avoid a further problem.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!