Sometimes things that are innocent can lead to much trouble. It is going from one point to another and realizing the end result may not have been intended. In the brotherhood we are called upon by God to love the brotherhood (I Peter 2:17). Brethren need to be reminded that all of us are in the pursuit of godly living on a daily basis (Titus 2:12). We may very well come to a point of disagreement over one kind or another. Paul and Barnabas were the best of friends but sharp contention developed between them over John Mark (Acts 15:39). Yet we find some seven years later Paul using the words, “Or I only and Barnabas…” (I Cor. 9:6). The two men were once again together. There is a great message from these two godly men of harmony being restored.
Let us take a few moments and think of Saul and David. I Samuel 17 is the account of the battle between David and Goliath. Israel had been afraid and there was great concern about what to do about this giant of a man that had been taunting the people of God for some forty days (verse 16). David, in the power of God, ran to meet the giant and hit him with a stone from his sling. Goliath fell and David proceeded to remove Goliath’s sword and behead the giant. Israel in seeing the Philistine fleeing gave pursuit to kill their enemies.
Saul was so impressed by David’s courage that he placed him over his army. David would go on missions for Saul and he continued to behave himself wisely (I Sam. 18:5). His fame with his victories began to grow. Saul and David on a return were met with women who praised David for killing his ten thousands and Saul for killing his thousands (I Sam. 18:8). David had not changed but Saul did. We find in the next verse that from that time forward Saul kept his eye on David. An innocent remark but in the ears of Saul is was elevating David above him. We would use the word envy here to show the change in Saul.
When we come to verse 11, simply stated, Saul threw a spear at David with the intent to kill him. This according to verse 11 happened twice. Consider the distance between the two points. At one point David is highly respected by Saul. The second point is, Saul threw a spear at David to kill him. Between these two points was the saying by the women. They gave no thought to its meaning nor the effects it would have on Saul. From chapter 18, all the way to the end of Saul’s life his hatred for David continued to grow. How strong is envy in the heart of any man? Where envy is, mark it down there is confusion and every evil work (James 3:16). Two lives that could have worked so hard together were ripped apart by envy.
Paul and Barnabas found a way to heal their pain between themselves. Paul and Peter likewise found a way to heal the hurt between them (Gal. 2:11; 2 Peter 3:16). Here we are in the realm of the total revelation of God. In such a sense we have so much more than those did in the first century world. Go all the way back to the beginning and we find Abraham finding a solution to the problem between his herdsmen and Lot’s. His argument was we are brethren and he allowed Lot to choose which way to go (Gen. 13:8). We have by inspiration the fullness of the Lord (Eph. 4:13). We have moved by virtue of time from being in part to being in whole (I Cor. 13:9-13). The Bible is finished and there is no more new revelation coming from God (I Cor. 13:8). Since now we have all that God intends for us to have by means of His written Word how much better we should be that those of the first century.
When brethren are wrong, we need to confront that wrong in hopes of changing people. Attitudes of the heart however, which can affect how we deal with each other must be brought under control (2 Cor. 10:5). Our efforts should always be to save as many as we can, help those who are in need and encourage the brethren who make up the church (Mark 16:15; Heb. 12:12,13; Eph. 4:12). Life can sometimes turn between two separate points. Let us all do all we can to find harmony between the two points as Paul, Barnabas and Peter did.