Jesus died so that his children might live in peace, and multiply that gospel peace throughout the world.  There should not be conflict in the church nor among the people of God.  We are redeemed, given grace upon grace.  We recognize sin, we repent from it, and forgive it in others when they ask.  We should all be in one accord for the same Spirit fills us all.  We are to lay down our lives for one another, consider others better than ourselves, and honor our brothers and sisters. The congregation is a sanctuary, a place of peace and refuge from a fallen world and sinful conflict.  

We should not have conflict in the church. But we often do. We should not have conflict in our families, but we often do.  Likewise, we often have conflict in the church.  Why?  We still sin. James 4:1, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?”

Paul and Barnabas had a great conflict over John Mark (Acts 15:36-41). On the first missionary journey, John Mark had turned back in Pamphilia  We don’t know why he did so.  Was he troubled by the Gentile mission? Was he afraid? Was he homesick?  We only know that he turned back from the mission.  He had not gone with them to the work. Acts 13:13, “And John left them and returned to Jerusalem.” 

John Mark was Barnabas’s cousin. Mary, his mother, owned a large home in Jerusalem.  It was the home of the prayer meeting when Peter escaped prison and came to the door. John Mark was most likely the author of the Gospel of Mark. He was the occasion of the conflict.

Barnabas was the son of encouragement. He was the first to welcome Paul in Jerusalem (Acts 9:26-27) and he was quick to receive and restore John Mark. He had a conflict with Paul!

Paul and Barnabas had a sharp disagreement about taking John Mark with them on the second missionary journey.  They had a “paroxysmos” about his qualifications for ministry.  So they separated. And in their unfortunate divide, they doubled the missionary force!  God still used separation to forward his work.

Later, there was reconciliation. Paul had good words for both Barnabas and Mark (1 Corinthians 9:6; 2 Corinthians 8-18-19 (likely speaking of Barnabas); Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry).

In a sinful world, we will have conflict. In a sinful church, we will have conflict. God rules and overrules our conflicts for good, provides for the future ministry of the church and opens the possibility for future reconciliation. (Paul and John Mark were apparently reconciled).

Walk with God through church conflicts. Learn from them and grow. “Though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.” Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry in your conflicts. Don’t take things personally – it is not about you. If you are wrong, confess it – seek forgiveness. Pray, take a stand where you must knowing that you still might be wrong. Strive to honor Christ, even in separation and conflict.

When God’s Spirit gives us his presence and his salvation he also calls us to war.  War with sin. War with our sinful nature. War with our flesh. War with ourselves. To grow is grace is, in part, to kill the flesh – the vestiges of our old nature. We are either feeding the flesh and starving the Spirit, or feeding the Spirit and starving the flesh.  

The Puritans called this mortifying the flesh. “Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it while you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you” (John Owen, Overcoming Sin and Temptation). Most Christians acknowledge this warfare as necessary and we give passing attention to it, but ….  That but is the problem.  We fight our sin like we fight our favorite unhealthy food; occasionally, half-heartedly, and with a secret plan to taste it again.

But this duel to the death with sin in not merely an old Puritan obsession, it is a Biblical command. “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17).  We have been set free from the guilt and shame of sin, and we are being delivered from the power and presence of sin. “If you by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body…” Romans 13.  It is “by the Spirit” that we kill sin.  We are not left to our own resources, we have the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20), but we must put the armor on and enter the lists. We are passionately active in this duel with our sin. God works in us and with us, but in sanctification, He will not work without us.

The Hebrew Christians had suffered greatly for their commitment to Jesus as their Messiah.  They “endured a hard struggle” “being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction.” They had “compassion on those in prison” and they “joyfully accepted the plundering of (their) property” Hebrews 10:32-34.  They were in the trenches, standing with Christ and supporting his people.  But they were wavering, and uncertain because following Christ was increasingly difficult.  Yet, even in their sincere difficulty, they are exhorted to fight sin. “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood” (Hebrews 12:4).

It is football season and you can always tell who is winning by glancing at the scoreboard.  So, how are you doing in your battle with sin? Are you on the gridiron with your pads, your fresh bruises, and your blood, sweat, and tears? Or are you in the stands, with a greasy burger and a cold beer watching your team lose? What is the score? Brothers and sisters, to arms! The war is won, but our battle remains. Kill sin, or it will kill you.