23/05/2026
WISDOM FOR THE CHURCH: BEWARE OF CHRISTIAN COLONIALISM
SCRIPTURAL TEXT
15:1 "Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved."
15:2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
15:3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad.
15:4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
15:5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."
15:6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question.
15:7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.
15:8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.
15:9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
15:10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?
15:11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
15:12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
15:13 When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me.
15:14 Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself.
15:15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
15:16 "'After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it,
15:17 that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things'
15:18 that have been known for ages.
15:19 "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
15:20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.
15:21 For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."
15:22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers.
15:23 With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.
15:24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.
15:25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul--
15:26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15:27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing.
15:28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:
15:29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
15:30 The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter.
15:31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message.
15:32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.
15:33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them.
15:34 [but Silas decided to remain there.]
15:35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
15:36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing."
15:37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them,
15:38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.
15:39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,
15:40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.
15:41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches" (Acts 15: 1 -- 41 NIV).
A COMMUNITY BUILT ON WHAT ALIENATE US FROM GOD IS NOT REDEMPTIVE (AT THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM THE SIMPLE REQUIREMENTS WAS OUTLINED IN VERSE 29).
Until today, the Church has always had to struggle to keep forgiveness of sin and the later coordinate, the baptismal experience of dying and raising with Christ, the only criterion for membership in the Christian community. At the very beginning of the Church a faction called the Judaizer wanted to add requirements. A Gentile who wanted to become a Christian had to pass through Judaism. Besides entering into Christ event and being reborn he had to enter into the Abraham event and be circumcised. This position was defeated at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts Chapter 15 but the temptation lingered and was more successful in later Church history.
When the Church become synonyms with western civilization, the entrance into the community of Christ meant that one had to adopt, in various ways, Latin customs. The whole background of the odious phrase "Christian colonialism" is that the Church demanded more than creaturehood and imposed more than the free invitation of Jesus. Whenever this happens the power and uniqueness of Jesus' community is dissolved.
A community built on what alienates us from each other is not redemptive but another example of the ease and seductiveness of sin. The religious reality of forgiveness which Jesus preached and the community of creaturehood He gathered around Himself is as radical a challenge in the 2020s as it was two thousand years ago.
SUMMARY
To say that the community of Jesus is built on the radical recognition of creaturehood is not deny the diversity of talents among its members. Each person's uniqueness and ability is acknowledged but what is relished beyond all else is the common gift of creaturehood. Hallelujah!
STAY TUNED FOR MORE ON WISDOM TO THE CHURCH NEXT WEEKEND DURING THE INTERLUDE.
2026: THE YEAR OF THE LORD'S FAVOR!
