A Spirit-Led Consensus Part One

A Spirit-Led Consensus

Learning from the Acts 15 Crisis

Acts 15:28 NIV

“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…”

Introduction
In the church world, few things are as horrible as a church split. When a congregation supposedly centered on Jesus and propagating His Word comes apart in disagreement, this throws shame on the Lord Himself and appears to discredit His Word. This almost happened in the first church! Two factions of Jesus followers could not agree on how they should live and minister. On one side were converted Jews who wanted to hold on to their traditions as they followed the Lord. On the other side were Greeks, Romans, and others saved out of their pagan religions who were enjoying their freedom in Christ. They saw no purpose in the traditions of the Judaizers with whom they worshiped.[1] A conference was assembled to find the Lord’s plan for His people. The man leading the conference was none other than the Lord’s half-brother James…

Part One

Defining the Challenge

Consider this question…
Just how are mortal, limited human beings led by the immortal, limitless Spirit of God? According to Jesus, the church is not a vassal kingdom run by one powerful potentate and his cadre of “yes men.” No. He said that to be the leader one must be the servant of all. This is absolutely counter-intuitive! It flows against the human heart, even when that heart has been touched by Jesus and filled with the Spirit. If we look to the book of Acts, we will see the application of Jesus’ revolutionary leadership plan for those who would function as under-shepherds to His powerful, peaceful, and productive flock over which He alone presides as the Good Shepherd.

When the first church crisis presented itself, as we read the history in Acts 15, we see a deep conflict among those whose lives had been transformed by the Resurrected Lord Jesus. It was a mixed crowd of faithful Jews and born-again pagans, each bringing with him or her the passions and mindsets of their lives before Jesus. On a larger scale, what was happening was the fulfillment of prophesies from the ancient spokesmen for God all the way to the recent final Old Covenant spokesman, John the Baptist. He said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” Not just Jerusalem. Not just the nation of Israel. More even than the Roman Empire, and her current evil shepherds of the Mediterranean world—not just these domains of the individual and the collective, but all of mankind. God’s Covenant made with the Blood of Jesus was a new one reaching far beyond the Jordan River to the east or the Great Sea to the west. This New Covenant with its new borders demanded a new understanding of how we connect with God. We must do His will His way and not ours. The old rules were centered on Israel to preserve her in a pagan world so that a virgin could bear a Son, the Lord Jesus. Now it was the task of the Ekklesia, the called out ones,[2] to carry the Good News to the whole world.

The rule change and the expansion of the vision for ministry was the subject of the first church crisis described in Acts 15. We must learn today what the Lord’s half-brother, James, knew back then. With the death and resurrection of Jesus, things had changed. The mission was much larger and so also must the hearts and minds of the leaders and those they led be much wiser. How did they manage this revolution? Not by human-led, top-down decree, but by a Spirit-led consensus. “It seemed good the Holy Spirit and to us…” This consensus was a miraculous coming together of the human mind and the mind of God. How can 21^st Century pastors, boards, and congregations achieve this Spirit-led consensus?

Let’s take a fresh look at the word:
“Consensus-general agreement, unanimity, the judgment arrived at by most of those concerned, group solidarity in sentiment and belief.”[3]

Perhaps we are more comfortable with the word, “agreement,” or with its result, “unity,” but Pastor James and the other leaders from both sides of the issue formed a consensus concerning the will of God for His people. Everything good that has happened in Christian ministry since the Acts 15 conference owes its success to that consensus: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” My purpose in this essay is to explore how they achieved this miracle of divine-human collaboration. I see the answers in the biblical account.[4]

How do we know what pleases the Holy Spirit?
In what is called “The Last Supper Discourse” Jesus explains the coming, New Covenant ministry of the Holy Spirit in thrilling detail. I’ll not go into each promise but will show you a summary instead. See the table at the end of Part Two. As Spirit-filled ministers of the Gospel these principles are the key to a fruitful, undivided ministry.

For our purposes in this study let us look to these three amazing promises.

The Holy Spirit is our teacher: John 14:25-26
He will testify to us about Jesus. John:15:26-27
He will guide us into all truth. John 16:12-15

By the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we can know “what seems right” to the Lord. This is a knowledge deeper than reason or logic and it is one to be shared by all the praying hearts, even if such knowledge demands a change of personal opinion.

Applying the Test
The truth of God exists within the context of the Word of God. So, any idea or strategy must be rooted in the Bible. Determining this is an essential skill that must be held by the leaders and taught to the congregation. Paul’s timeless and timely instruction to the Thessalonians makes this process clear.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 NKJV
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

We must “test all things” by what we find in the Word. Our ministry plans must be supported by Scripture! Since the Bible is an ancient book read today in modern languages around the world, we must be aware that there are two kinds of Scriptural authority: commands and principles.

Commands are simply that—commands, as in, Do This! Period. End of sentence. Get to it!
Principles express the wisdom behind the commands. For instance, Psalm 150 commands the use of orchestra instruments in worship. Each family is there: brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion. This instrumentation should be used if these instruments are available, but if they are not, the principle of using instruments in worship remains. Honor God with what you have available. This pleases Him!

Principles make New Covenant worship as portable as Moses’ Tabernacle was in the wilderness.

Through both commands and the principles behind them, our faith has flowered in every nation of the world where it has gone for all these hundreds of years. We can know what pleases the Lord when we “test all things and hold fast to what is good.”

The Authority of Scripture
“What is good…” means the Bible, the infallible Word of God. Paul told young pastor Timothy this:

Ephesians 2:13-14 RSV
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility,

Jesus is the unifier! If the church is led only through culture, that congregation will remain divided into competing groups all concerned with their preferences. The most politically powerful will rule the day. On the other hand, if the church is taught to read and believe the scriptures, an emphasis on the Lord Jesus will break down the walls between the competing cultures and the Lord Jesus will rule the day. We can be ONE in the Spirit, just as Jesus prayed at the Last Supper.[5]

We are called to consume the Word of God; it is the manna from heaven that empowers us with wisdom and strength. We are called to believe it not to edit it to conform to our wishes. The vision imparted by the Spirit through the Word will help our people lay aside their cultural and personal preferences when they come to know what “seems to be good to the Holy Spirit.” To build a consensus requires the authority of Scripture and a deep humility of heart. How can leaders today make this application? It is time to move on to biblical methodology.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

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Here is the link to Part Two: A Spirit-Led Consensus Part Two – Steve Phifer

End Notes

[1] Judaizers – Wikipedia

[2] Ekklesia ASSEMBLY NT:1577,

[3] Meriam-Webster: CONSENSUS Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster

[4] As a Pentecostal, I am happy to use descriptive, historical passages as the basis for doctrinal beliefs when there is sufficient support from prescriptive, instructional passages. In this way I let scripture interpret scripture.

[5] John 17:20-21 NIV “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.