Episode 642 Controversy in Community (Acts 15:1-21)

This week we are reading Acts 15:1-18. The community of Jesus followers is quickly expanding, and as they welcome gentiles, they are faced with a pretty existential question: must new followers of Jesus come into the faith of Israel first, taking upon themselves the commandments of the Jewish people - or not? The text made us ask ourselves – what is the role of boundaries, standards, and rules within a faith community. What do they make possible ... what might they hinder? And how do community leaders keep their finger on the pulse of what God is doing in the world right now, without fear of change, and also without dismissing the testimony and teachings of all the generations before us?