Who's Right?

I've been reading through To Live is Christ Joining Paul's Journey of Faith by Beth Moore. I've really enjoyed it, and I found a really interesting chapter that made me really think.

I don't know if you're anything like me or not, but I have often wondered who was right in the split-up of Paul and Barnabas. Acts 15:39 says, "Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus." I find myself wondering who was right, who was acting spiritually immature, who was acting out of anger, etc. Surely in a disagreement that was this sharp there must be a clear answer to my questions.

Beth Moore writes: "Lets start becoming aware of our tendency to get involved, at least emotionally, as judge and jury when people disagree." I think it's something we all do. We all want to make a definitive statement about who is right and who is wrong in a disagreement. And we often make these judgments without knowing the whole story or when we don't even have any business making this type of judgment. We just don't want to rest or leave something alone until we are in the know.

But after reading what Beth Moore had to say I'm convicted about several areas in my life. I don't need to know the story behind everyone's disagreements. Have you ever thought about how we even know about the disagreements if we're not the people who are involved? Often (I think I'm being generous here) it comes around to us in the form of gossip. Call it by any name you want but according to Proverbs I think it's safe to assume it's probably gossip.

Today's Proverbs reading (the 26th chapter) had this verse: "Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops." I wonder how many ministry splits, church splits, and general disagreements would be shorter lived if the people who were not even involved in the disagreement stopped trying to make judgments on who was right and completely cut off the flow of gossip. How many times do we hear the story from someone who is not even involved in the situation, or how often do we only hear it from one of the parties involved and then want to make a judgment? I'm not sure how it was for Paul and Barnabas, but I'm pretty sure people are people. There was probably a lot of talk and judgment even back then.

Hopefully the next time I read through Acts I will remember this and not try to find something wrong with either Paul or Barnabas. Some days I've been guilty of trying to find something wrong with Paul and some days I think Paul must have been too good of a man to do something wrong. The point is the Bible doesn't tell us who was right or wrong. And if we look at Paul and Barnabas splitting up, we can see that yes the ministry team was divided, but God's work was multiplied. We had two mentors with two new apprentices, and we know that whatever the disagreement was about, after a time Paul wanted John Mark with him once again.

I want this to be life-changing for me as well. One of the perks for being overseas is that we're removed from a lot of the stories. I don't need to hear the gossip of what's happening. Quite frankly even though I'm overseas I still read and hear too much that is not my business. I think things like email, facebook, and skype have all made that too easy. But let's face it, we could all do with less poison in our lives. I think the prayer on our hearts each morning that God would protect our eyes, ears, and hearts from taking in damaging gossip and from becoming involved in something that is none of our business. And if we do have the opportunity to help someone that God would protect us from becoming involved in something with impure motives. He is able...with Him nothing is impossible.

ETA: I knew there was more to Proverbs this morning, but when I re-scanned them I didn't see what I was looking for. Then another friend posted it on Facebook. "Yanking a dog's ears is as foolish as interfering in someone else's argument." I don't want to yank any dog ears. :)