Its Not Fair!

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. (Acts 6:1 ESV). I’ve been the pastor of six different churches over the last forty-five years. Each of them had different personalities and structures. While there have been challenging times in each of these ministries, there have also been great joys in each of them as well. I have found some things to be the same in every church. When a church begins to reach out and impact the culture around them, where the people desire to live godly lives, there always seems to be opposition or division within the fellowship. In the book of Acts, we see this playing out in the early church. A disagreement arose in the early church about how the widows were being treated. There was a feeling that partiality was being shown to one group over another. Some folks felt they were not being treated “fairly.” Luke says, “A complaint arose.” During the days of Alexander the Great, the Greek culture and philosophy had permeated the world. Many of the Jews had adopted Grecian ways, and they were known as Grecians, or Hellenists. Unlike the native Hebrews, they spoke Greek. But there were other Jews, called Hebrews, who stayed true to the old ways. They were critical of the Grecian believers and thought of them as second-class Jews. The Grecians felt their widows were getting less attention than those who were raised in the Jewish culture. And it caused a division in the church. Probably more havoc has been wreaked on the church through division than anything else. And when you get down to it, many of the divisions in a church are actually over minor things. People will get bent out of shape over things that really don't matter. You can always find something wrong with a church. No church is perfect. Perhaps you have stopped attending church services because of some misunderstanding. Could I encourage you to seek out the leadership and convey to them your feelings? It may be the beginning of a healing process that will bring both of you back into community. I know some are thinking, “You don’t know how stubborn they are.” Perhaps that is true; and, perhaps there is a strong obstinacy on the part of the leadership. Regardless, make the first move of charity and reconciliation toward those whom you feel have hurt you. No one is perfect, but we all can go forward to reconciliation. The apostles’ response was wonderful. They recognized the need to reform some of the ways things were being done and the church continued to grow. God blesses us in relationship. It’s not really about “fair”; it’s about keeping the family together.