The Problems and Opportunities of a Growing Church

Yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from a good friend I haven’t heard from in a long time. His church is going through a really tough time and he just wanted to talk to someone who is not directly involved. We talked for over 2 hours as he shared some of the problems that the leadership and congregation are facing.

Problems are a part of life. We’ve all encountered them at different points in our lives. If you’ve attended a church for any length of time, pretty certain that you’ve encountered problems in that church. The question is, how do we interpret problems when they come up in our lives? In the church? Would we define the perfect life as a life without problems? Would we define the perfect church as a church without problems? Could that even be possible? Would it be good for us if it were?

Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll made this observation about problems: Every problem is an opportunity to prove God's power. Every day we encounter countless golden opportunities, brilliantly disguised as insurmountable problems.

Problems provide an opportunity for God to work. This morning as we continue our journey through the book of Acts we’re gonna find that the early church didn’t get too far before it began to encounter some golden opportunities brilliantly disguised as problems. Problems that not only threatened to damage the church, but were surprisingly linked to their phenomenal growth. In other words, problems that weren’t the result of some failure on their part or lack of God’s blessing, but just the opposite, they were the result of their success and God’s great blessing. Problems that provided an opportunity for God to work.

Title: The Problems and Opportunities of a Growing Church (pray)

Acts 5:12-16

This is really the golden age of the church. The church is growing, people are getting saved, and God is doing all kinds of signs and wonders, the believers love Jesus and each other. All the momentum is all on their side, the blessing of God is strongly at work in their midst, and it’s about as close to a problem-free church as you can get. Then in verse 17 the first serious problem the church would face raises its head and it’s the problem of persecution.

I. The problem of persecution - Acts 5:17-18

The high priest and the Sadducees were annoyed with Peter and John in chapter 4, but now they “rise up” against the apostles, which means they set themselves full bore against the teaching and preaching of the apostles. They’re jealous because great crowds are coming to hear the apostles preach. It’s all Jerusalem is talking about. And they’re afraid that these large crowds are going to pin them with the blame for Jesus’ death. Look with me at verse 27:

Vv. 27-32

This basically the same conversation they had after the lame man had been healed, the religious leaders reminding Peter that they had commanded him not to speak in Jesus’ name and Peter reminding them that he needed to obey God rather than man. Peter goes on to boldly declare that God has made Jesus Lord and Savior of the Israel that they were supposed to lead spiritually. Through Christ forgiveness is offered by God to those who will repent. That offer of mercy is even available to these leaders who rejected Christ and demanded he be crucified. Sadly the mercy that melts some hearts hardens others, and the religious leaders are enraged at Peter’s bold declaration. Look with me at vs 33.

Their hearts are filled with the same rage against the apostles that they felt for Jesus, and they would have killed them all right then and there, but for a wise teacher named Gamaliel who cautions them to be careful. If it isn’t of God, leave it alone - it will fizzle out soon enough. But if it is of God, they won’t be able to stop it and they will find themselves opposing God. They don’t kill the apostles, but they beat them before they let them go.

The persecution that rises up against the church in verse 17 is a problem that doesn’t go away. Eventually many Christians would be oppressed, imprisoned, and even brutally tortured for their faith. But it’s a problem that contains a golden opportunity for the apostles.

II. The opportunity of rejoicing in promises that are better than the persecution is bad (vs. 41)

Here’s what we see in this verse: Jesus’ name is so wonderful that it is a privilege to suffer for it. It is an honor to be dishonored for Jesus. It is a grace to be disgraced for our allegiance with Jesus. And as the apostles walk away beaten and bloody, Jesus’ promises seem very real and very close:

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:10-12 (ESV)

The promises are better than the persecution is bad. And the persecution helped make those promises become that much more real to them.

The problem of persecution is a problem we really don’t relate to here in America. We might be laughed at for our faith and I think a case can be made that the popular culture is somewhat biased against Christians. It’s pretty well documented that Christianity is the only religious faith that it is still acceptable to mock and caricature on TV. I think that’s real, but I don’t think we should be whining or terribly upset by it – it’s really not that bad compared to what it could be and historically often has been.

A couple of weeks ago it occurred to me, I should talk with my kids about the possibility of persecution in order to help them have a biblical view of persecution should it ever come. We have never faced fierce persecution for our faith – and I am grateful for that– but it would be a tragedy if we thought that our Christian faith is only good in good times or if our children were raised without the depth of roots that can hold strong in the face of people hating and cursing and lying and threatening and even murdering you. It is an honor to be counted worthy to suffer for the name. He’s that good. His cause is that glorious. And his rewards are that valuable. Young people, if one day people hate you and persecute you for your faith in Christ, it doesn’t mean something’s gone wrong or that God isn’t real or loving. Don’t junk your faith and say, “it wasn’t real.” It’s never more real – and Christ never more precious than in the face of suffering and persecution. I’m not sharing that from personal experience, but from God’s word and from the testimony of millions in history. The promises of Christ are far better than the persecution is bad.

The second problem the church faces is one we are far more familiar with.

III. The problem of complaining (6:1-6)

Because of the sudden growth, some problems began to arise in the church and guess what people began to do in this Jesus-loving, miracle working, Spirit-filled church when they saw those problems? They began to complain! Murmur. Isn’t that encouraging? We’re not so different after all!

This particular complaint had the potential to tear the church apart. At this point there were two types of Jews in the church, Hebraic Jews and Hellenistic Jews. The Hebraic Jews were from the Palestinian area and in the Hebraic culture. They read the OT in Hebrew and they were the first to follow Jesus and it would have been very easy for them to think of themselves as spiritually superior to the Hellenistic Jews. The Hellenistic Jews were Jews that had settled in other countries due to the Diaspora and they spoke Greek and the language of whatever their mother country was. They read the OT in the Greek translation called the Septuagint instead of the original Hebrew so it would have been easy for them to feel inferior to the Hebraic Jews.

In the midst of this tension the widows of the Hellenistic Jews were being overlooked in the financial help to the needy. It wasn’t intentional, it was the result of the rapid increase and large size of the church, but with the underlying cultural and spiritual differences, it threatened to divide the two groups apart. So in this large group of believers (might easily have been about 25,000 people at this point) murmuring started to happen. Complaining started to happen. It was a real problem that threatened the church and needed to be addressed. But this serious problem contained an important opportunity as well.

IV. The opportunity to lead the growing church to a wise solution and greater strength

The context for this problem is a church leadership thing so I’m gonna relate it a little more to church leadership, but it really applies to all of life. These are good lessons for how we deal with complaints whether it be in a position of leadership or in our marriage or at our job.

1. The apostles listened and responded to the complaints

The complaint arose and the apostles responded. They summoned the disciples and addressed the complaint head on. One of the greatest mistakes that leaders can make is to turn a deaf ear to legitimate complaints. Their door isn’t wide open to those who want to share concerns, suggestions, or even complaints. Maybe they get defensive and go on the attack – as if to say, “how dare you even imply I’m not doing everything perfectly?”

Think of how easy it would have been for the apostles to point to everything that was going on and say, “hey, you with the complaint. Are you noticing everything that God is doing around here? D’you see that lame guy jump up last week? And who was it that preached that message that God used to save 3000 people – oh yeah, that was me. And don’t forget our friend Ananias – God rest his soul. He lied to me and God terminated him on the spot. You sure you want to complain to me? Could you stand back just a few feet – just in case?

Leaders in any position need to listen and respond to complaints. But let me get personal: are you a good listener when people bring concerns or complaints to you? Husband and wives, do you listen to your spouse when she or he brings something of concern to you? I know from personal experience that pride can make us assume that the problem is with the person bringing the complaint. That’s not always true, and we need to hear.

Also notice that the complaint actually reached the apostles. Sometimes people never bring their complaint to the person actually involved in the solution. They talk to everybody around the edges but never to the person they need to. That’s why it’s called murmuring – background grumbling that’s never directly shared. If we have a complaint or concern we need to be responsible to share it with the person or people who are directly involved and not with a lot of others.

2. The apostles did not allow the complaints to overturn their priorities

There’s a lot of emotional weight to this complaint: widows are being neglected. The Bible says that God is the protector of widows (Ps. 68:5) and later James would write that pure religion includes caring for the widow. This is a compelling need, and you could easily see the apostles saying, wow, we need to stop everything to make sure this need is met.

They identify their priorities and for them it is to pray and study and preach God’s word. It would be easy for people to say, “sure, you’re gonna be real spiritual and pray and read when poor widows are going hungry. What kind of pastor are you?”

But they knew that God had called them to pray and study God’s word so that they could faithfully care for and feed the flock. In the long run the church would suffer if they neglected the word of God to care for widows. And as compelling as the need was, they boldly declare their God-given priorities: it wouldn’t be right to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables.

They heard the complaints, and kept their God-given priorities in view. By doing that, it led them to lead to a better solution than just their jumping in to serve the widows.

3. They led the church to a wise solution that addressed the complaint and strengthened the unity of the church

They had the congregation choose spiritually mature and godly and Spirit-filled men (and this tells us that they put a high priority on the importance of the task) to administrate the care of the church. These are probably the first deacons identified in the church.

You probably wouldn’t know this from reading, but all of the seven are Hellenistic Jews. What a great solution to a problem that threatened to divide the church in two! Now the Hellenistic Jews and widows are more than adequately represented and cared for. The Hebraic Jews don’t try to lord it over the Hellenistic Jews, and in fact the Hellenistic Jews begin to lead in significant areas of ministry that effect the Hebraic Jews and their needs. It’s a wise and unifying solution.

And, as if to reinforce the effectiveness of this solution, Luke tells us in verse 7 that the church grew even more. (Read verse 7). For the first time, rather than disciples being added to the church, they were now being multiplied. Increase is exploding exponentially! And in part because of the golden opportunity disguised as serious problems that the church faced.

Conclusion:

• I realize with a message like this, I run the risk of having everyone who has a gripe with the church calling me this week. But seriously, Matt and I would want you to know that our door is always open to concerns, suggestions and yes, complaints.

• Also I want you to consider where you are facing problems and I pray that you have a fresh faith to see God working in them. The problems might be very real, but the opportunities to see God work in them is very real too.

• Prayer line – if you are facing a problem of any size and you want prayer, please come up and someone will be glad to pray for you.