Acts 21:17–36: “Yielding for the Sake of Unity: Preserving Peace”

Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to Acts 21. Last time, we saw the Apostle Paul demonstrate an unyielding, uncompromising conviction concerning Jerusalem. It was inspiring! His friends tried to talk him out of going there, because persecution was (literally!) foreseeable. But Paul said, “I’m going. God wants me there, despite the fact that suffering is inevitable.” Paul was unyielding. 

And yet, in the very next passage that we’re going to look at today (Acts 21:17–36), Paul yields in a significant matter for the sake of unity. This is something that has come up periodically through the book of Acts. When do you hold fast to your convictions despite the pleas of others? And when do you yield to the pleas of others for the sake of unity? Let me frame it this way—To yield or not to yield, that is the question.

In Acts 21:1–16, when Paul’s friend essentially said, “Paul we love you and we don’t want you to suffer and die in Jerusalem!” Paul responded, “I’m sorry. I’m going.” In today’s passage (Acts 21:17–36), Paul’s friends say, “Paul, we love you and we don’t want you to rock the boat!” Paul responds, “Okay, I’ll comply with that.” To which, we might ask, what gives, Paul? Why this and then that? Why that and then this?

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Well, let’s explore that. Today, I’ll give you five observations from the text, and then we’ll use those to build four implications for our lives from this Scripture. All of this is in your notes and you can follow along as we go. 

Here’s the first observation, the first scene of this passage. Write this down as #1.

1) A Warm Reception (21:17–20a)

Paul finally gets to Jerusalem, and Luke, who was there with him, writes:

17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 

“Hey! Paul! Good to see you! I thought you’d be dead by now.” They welcomed Paul. They received him with greetings and kisses in the way that Jewish folks greet old friends after not seeing them for a while. 

And this is not surprising for us. This is what happens wherever Paul goes. There is this joy of fellowship and camaraderie of spirit that is true of all the churches in Paul’s day. Because Christians share Christ. They share the Holy Spirit. And they share the gospel that saves their souls.

Look at verse 18. 

18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 

Now quick review. Who is James? James is the half-brother of Jesus. He didn’t believe in Jesus until after his death and resurrection. And now he’s become a rock-solid leader in the church in Jerusalem. Peter and John are probably off elsewhere preaching the gospel as missionaries. But James stays in Jerusalem, along with these elders, and leads the church. 

And verse 19 says,

19 After greeting them, 

More greetings, more kisses, more “good to see you, Paul.” 

[Paul] related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

Now Paul does a lot of this everywhere he goes. Keep in mind, there’s no email in the first century world. There’s no postal service. There’s no missionary newsletter. So this is Paul’s chance to inform the Jerusalem church about all that God has done in the Gentile regions. 

And Paul’s been away from Jerusalem for something like five years. And he’s been as far away as Athens and Corinth preaching the gospel. That’s on the other side of the world as far as these Jerusalem Jewish believers are concerned. I’m sure they were mesmerized as Paul told them these stories.

Paul’s like “Yeah, I preached the gospel in Philippi. People got saved there, and then the people of the city wanted to kill me.” “Then I preached the gospel in Corinth. People got saved there, and then the people of the city wanted to kill me.” “Then I preached the gospel in Ephesus. People got saved there, and then …”

“Wait, let me guess, Paul. People wanted to kill you.” 

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

I bet Paul and Luke told them the story of Eutychus falling out of the window while Paul was preaching. I’m sure they all had a good laugh at that story. I’m sure they were like, “Yeah Paul you always were a little long-winded.”

Look at verse 20.

20 And when they heard it [when they heard all these wonderful stories of God’s glory and God’s grace among the Gentiles], they glorified God.

“Hallelujah! That’s awesome, Paul!” “Gentiles got saved all around the world. Praise the Lord!” “That’s just what Jesus told us to do—Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth.”

And there’s something to that connection that you feel with people in other parts of the world who love Jesus and believe the gospel. That’s powerful. We sense that in our day when we hear about revivals and God’s work among other people around the world. 

So just to summarize, they greeted Paul with a warm reception. They glorified God together for all that he had done. And we know from elsewhere that Paul had been collecting money for the saints in Jerusalem, because of the drought. So I’m sure they were thankful to receive this offering from the Gentiles that blessed the Jewish brothers in Jerusalem. This was a happy occasion. 

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But here’s where the story takes a sour turn. Watch this in verse 20.  

 20 And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to [Paul], “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law,

Hmmm. That’s an odd statement right there—“They are all zealous for the law.” Shouldn’t they be zealous for the gospel? Shouldn’t they be “zealous for Christ” not “zealous for the law?” Where are they going with this?

Look at verse 21. 

21 and they have been told about you [Paul] that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

Now what is this? What’s going on with this statement in verse 21 especially? I mean, all the pleasantries have disappeared. The warm welcome has faded a bit. And now the Jerusalem church is getting down to brass tacks dealing with a serious issue. 

“Paul, some of our Jewish believers have heard that you are anti-Jewish with your beliefs now. Is that true? Some of our young converts have been told that you teach Jews in foreign lands to forsake Moses and our customs. What’s up with that, Paul? What are we going to do about this? They’re going to find out that you’re in town, and when they do, it has the potential to divide our church. What are we going to do about this?”

Now let’s just call this what it is. This is a false accusation. Write that down as #2.

2) A False Accusation (21:20b–22)

Now there is a measure of truth in what they are saying about Paul. And by the way, most false accusations have a measure of truth. The best accusations… the best slanders are half-truths, not total fabrications. That tactic is as old as Genesis 3 and the Garden of Eden. 

Paul was certainly against the idea that following the Mosaic law was necessary for salvation. He wrote a whole letter, the book of Galatians in our Bible, demolishing the idea that anything other than Christ alone is necessary for salvation. But Paul never (never!) said that Jews must forsake their cultural Jewishness in order to follow Christ. He said specifically about circumcision that “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation” (Gal 6:15). 

So this statement about Paul that is circulating among Christian Jews is a half-truth. It’s a misrepresentation of the facts. It’s a slanderous, false accusation. And the best evidence of this is that Paul was hustling like crazy to get to Jerusalem for Pentecost, which was a Jewish feast! So obviously Paul was not anti-Jewish. 

And so when James and the elders in Jerusalem say in verse 22…

What then is to be done? …

I think the answer is quite simple. You go to those Jewish Christians who are believing these false accusations and you tell them, “It’s not true! Stop circulating this junk! What other people are saying about Paul is slander. Don’t believe it! Stop spreading it!” 

If it was up to me, I’d say let’s deal with it head on and just address the issue. And that’s because, most of the time, I’m a pretty direct person. I don’t like beating around the bush or soft-peddling difficult things. I’d rather just deal with issue head on. And for the most part that’s how Paul is too. But let’s face it. Not every issue needs to be handled that way. And there are different ways to utilize diplomacy and tact to get to a place of resolution. 

Let me say it this way, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat!” Let me say it this way, “If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail!” 

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So instead of addressing this issue head on, the elders in Jerusalem instead try a different approach. And what follows in verse 23 is… I’ll just call it this… a curious suggestion for resolving this issue. 

Write that down as a third observation:

3) A Curious Suggestion (21:23–25)

Here’s the suggestion. Look at verse 23.

23 Do therefore what we tell you [Paul].

Again, this is James and the elders in Jerusalem talking. So there is authority behind this.

We have four men who are under a vow; 24 take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.

That’s their suggestion. I told you it was curious.

This is their plan for correcting the misinformation that has been spread about Paul. How do y’all feel about that? What do you think of their plan? 

Now before you answer, notice what they say in verse 25, because this is important. 

25 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.” 

So James and the other elders make clear that they aren’t requiring Gentiles to be more Jewish. The letter that he references is what took place in Acts 15 with the Jewish Council five years earlier. And conceivable they’ve sent more correspondence since then to other churches. 

The four things they prohibited (idolatry, food with blood, strangled meats, and sexual immorality) weren’t necessary for salvation. They were evidences of salvation. They were evidences that a person had broken from pagan Gentile practice. And it removed barriers and stumbling blocks for Jews who couldn’t abide that practice in the church. So they are making clear that just because they want Paul to appear faithful to Jewish custom, they aren’t expecting Gentiles in Gentile churches to do the same. That’s important. 

And so they come up with this elaborate scheme to appease the Jewish Christians and guard against a potential schism in the church. The elders ask Paul to shave his head as part of a vow with these other men. And that’ll restore his Jewish bona-fides with the Jewish population. 

Let me ask again, how do y’all feel about this plan? Do you think this was a good way to go about rectifying this issue? You might say, “Well, Pastor Tony sometimes elders do things that I don’t understand, but I trust them anyway.” That’s a good answer right there! 

You might say, “I don’t know Tony, but I trust that God leads elders to make tough decisions, and he disciplines them when they make mistakes. That was true in Jerusalem two-thousand years ago. That’s true in San Antonio, Texas today.” Touche. 

Maybe there are some who agree with their non-confrontational approach to this issue. Maybe you disagree with it. I guess the bigger question is this: why does God record this matter—this episode in the life of Paul—in the Bible? What does God want to teach us from this passage? That’s the question that we’ve got to wrestles with.

Let me tell you what I think. I don’t agree with the way that these elders handle this situation. But I’ve never had to shepherd a flock of Jewish converts to Christianity. So I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt to this group of elders who knew their flock. 

And by the way, just a little historical background here. This was a very volatile time in Jerusalem. This wasn’t the same Jerusalem of Acts 2, twenty-five years earlier. This wasn’t the same Jerusalem as Passion Week when Jews and Gentiles conspired together to execute Jesus. The relationship between Jews and the Roman Empire had grown increasingly hostile and explosive over the years. And there was a lot of nationalist fervor is Israel. In a little over a decade, the entire city of Jerusalem would be destroyed including the temple.

Also there was a famine in the land that was impoverishing the people. It was a tense time. So there were probably a number of different factors that led these elders to suggest that Paul make a humble demonstration of his Jewishness.   

And let me just clarify what they’re suggesting here. They told Paul to take four men who were under a vow, probably some variation of a Nazirite vow from the OT, which included a voluntary abstention of wine and fermented drink. With a Nazirite vow, you would grow your hair out for 30 days and then you would shave it off and offer it as an offering before the Lord. Samson was a lifelong Nazirite the Bible says. So he wasn’t supposed to shave his hair ever. But most Nazirite vows were only for a short period. 

So they wanted Paul to participate in this ancient Jewish ceremony, and they wanted him to pay the expenses of these other four men which was a pretty costly thing. So this was a significant time and money commitment for Paul. Why do they want him to do this? To prove his Jewishness. To prove to his naysayers that he wasn’t opposed to Moses and the observance of the law. That’s their plan.

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Now given what we know of Paul—how hard-nosed and opinionated he could be—I would have expected him to put the kibosh on this whole idea before it even got off the ground. Paul could very easily have said, “There’s no way I’m going to do that! I’m an Apostle. I’ve been a faithful witness to Jews and Gentiles alike. My credentials are as good as they come. I don’t have to do this to prove myself to these people or vindicate myself. God is my witness; he will vindicate me!” Couldn’t Paul have said that? 

That’s probably what I would have said if I was in Paul’s position. That’s maybe what a younger, more fiery, Paul might have said. But this older, shrewder, more measured Paul does something different. He says, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

Here’s the fourth observation from the text:

4) A Humble Submission (21:26–29)

Look at verse 26.

26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.

Paul acquiesces to the decision of the elders. Paul consents to this diplomatic solution that involves him purifying himself according to Jewish custom and taking part in this Nazirite vow. 

And he goes up to the temple! The temple, which for all intents and purposes, is meaningless now that Christ has risen from the dead. The veil has been torn in the temple. Like I said already, this temple would be destroyed completely in just over a decade, in AD 70. Jesus, if you remember, predicted its destruction during the lifetime of his disciples. Nevertheless Paul submits himself to participate in this Jewish custom in order to build bridges with the Jewish community and not be a stumbling block to the gospel. 

Let me just say that there are implications galore for us in this text, as we examine what Paul is doing. Here what I think Paul is doing. Paul is bowing to tradition, in order to preserve church unity. He’s bowing to social custom, in order to advance the gospel. He’s yielding for the sake of unity.

The verse that comes to mind is this. Paul wrote this just a few years before the events of Acts 21. “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (1 Cor 9:19–23).

I think there are some implications for our lives here, but I’m going to wait until the end of the passage before I talk application. Paul voluntarily submitted himself to the request of these church elders and participated in an antiquated OT custom in order to build bridges for the gospel and in order to preserve church unity. That’s a remarkable thing, right there. That is a wonderful testimony to us twenty centuries later. 

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Now you might be thinking, “O Paul, what a good guy! Surely God is going to protect him from any harm after this show of humility. Surely God is going to guard him from persecution. Maybe God will even reverse his plan to have Paul arrested.”

In fact, I think this might have even been part of the reason that these elders suggested this course of action. In other words, they may have been thinking, “If we can just appease the unbelieving Jews as well as the believing Jews, maybe we can take some heat off Paul. Maybe we can protect him!” 

I don’t know if it was part of their plan. If it was, it didn’t work. Look at verse 27.

27 When the seven days were almost completed, 

This is the last seven days of that Nazirite vow.

the Jews from Asia, seeing [Paul] in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd 

That word “stirred up” is the same one that was used to describe Ephesus when the Gentile crowd there started a mob. Remember “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:28, 34). The Greek word connotes the idea of “mob violence” and “confused agitation.” 

In this case, it was the Asian Jews—maybe they were even from Ephesus since Ephesus is the largest city in Asia—who stir up the crowds…

and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help!

Now remember, it’s Pentecost. So the crowds were huge in Jerusalem at this time. And there were a lot of people from out of town who had pilgrimaged to Jerusalem for this Jewish feast. These Asian Jews may have even seen Paul in Ephesus. So they grab him and they cry out “Men of Israel, help!” 

This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 

Now two things about this. 1) First of all, notice how this is the same accusation that the church was dealing with. “Paul is anti-Jewish. He teaches against the law.” The rumor-mill had spread lies about Paul all around the city: 2) And secondly, these guys add another false accusation to Paul. By the way, if you are thinking about getting into ministry, let me just warn you ahead of time—false accusations will come. Just get ready for it. Here’s their false accusation against Paul—“He brought Greeks into the temple.” That was a big no-no in Jewish circles. 

But Luke tells us in verse 29 that it’s not even true. 

29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city,

So he was in the city, but he wasn’t in the temple. Remember that posse of seven men that Paul had brought with him to Jerusalem from the Gentile churches to deliver benevolence to the church in Jerusalem. They all had really cool names: Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychicus, and Trophimus (Acts 20:4). 

So of course Trophimus was in the city with Paul. There was no restriction against Jews coming to the city of Jerusalem. But Gentiles couldn’t go into the inner courts of the temple. They had to stay in the court of the Gentiles.

But look at the end of verse 29.

and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 

Here’s another half-truth that becomes a false accusations. By the way, human beings are really good at this. We are really good at extrapolated falsehoods from only half the facts.

And look at the result of this. Look at verse 30.

30 Then all the city was stirred up, 

I told you this was a volatile time in Jerusalem. 

and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. 

Let me be clear about what’s going on here. They dragged Paul outside the temple, because they didn’t want to shed blood there. And they shut the temple gates. In other words, they were going to kill him. 

31 And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 He at once

This tribune… A tribune, by the way, was a senior officer in the Roman army. He was higher in rank than a centurion, but lower than a legionnaire. And he was in charge of roughly 600 troops. 

So this tribune…

 took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 

“Nothing to see here, officer! Just a few guys working through a disagreement.” 

33 Then the tribune came up and arrested [Paul] …

That’s kind of a curious move right there. Shouldn’t they arrest the people beating up Paul? But this is actually a good thing for Paul. Their arrest of him probably saved his life.

Look again at verse 33. 

33 … the tribune came up and arrested [Paul] and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. 

This is like Ephesus all over again. I guess Jews and Gentiles have more in common than we realize. They both want to kill Paul. And they both can’t get their story straight in the middle of mob violence.

And as he [the Tribune] could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. 35 And when [Paul] came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 36 for the mob of the people followed, crying out, “Away with him!”

What does that sound like? That sounds like Jesus in Jerusalem, doesn’t it? Crucify him! Crucify him! 

Actually where Paul was at this moment, outside of the temple, wasn’t that far from the spot where Jesus was arrested, sentenced, and executed. In the same vicinity of his Savior’s suffering, Paul is now sharing in Christ’s suffering some twenty-five years later. 

  Here’s the fifth observation from the text. Write this down.

1) A Warm Reception (21:17–20a)

2) A False Accusation (21:20b–22)

3) A Curious Suggestion (21:23–25)

4) A Humble Submission (21:26–29)

5) A Fateful Conclusion (21:30–36)

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Now next time, we’ll see how Paul uses even this fateful set of circumstances to preach the gospel and tell people about Jesus. God actually uses this suffering as another opportunity to preach the gospel. 

But we’re going to stop here for today. Because I want us to spend the rest of our time now thinking through why God put this passage in the Bible. What is God wanting to convey to us practically and applicationally in Acts 21:17–36? 

What is God teaching us in this passage? Here’s my answer to that. Four Applications. Here’s #1.

1) When God says something is going to happen, believe it’s going to happen

God prophesied to Paul that he was going to get arrested in Jerusalem, and sure enough, he gets arrested in Jerusalem. God used Agabus to prophesy that Paul would be bound with chains in Jerusalem. Sure enough, Paul gets bound with chains.

Similar things happened, by the way, in the life of Jesus. The OT prophesied the coming of a Savior that would take away the sins of the world. Jesus himself prophesied his death and resurrection three times on the road to Jerusalem (Luke 9:22, 44–45; 18:31–34). And all of those things came to fruition. When God says something’s going to happen, it’s going to happen.

What do we take away from all that? We could look at these predictions that come true and we can feel bad for Jesus and Paul. But I don’t think that’s how God wants us to respond. I think God would want us to say instead, “He’s got the whole world in his hands. God knows everything that going to happen and his promises are true.” 

So if God predicted Jesus’s suffering and Paul’s suffering, what does that tell us about God’s predictions concerning us? What does that tell us about God’s promises to us about life after death? What does that tell us about God’s promise that all our suffering will be rewarded in the end? 

I believe that even though this is a difficult section of Scripture that involves the suffering of the Apostle Paul, it’s a passage if Scripture that inspires hope. God knows the beginning from the end and he is orchestrating everything in this world for his perfect purpose. 

And here’s a second application. Write this down.

2) Obedience and humility don’t shield a Christian from suffering 

I wish that they did shield us from suffering in this world. They don’t. Paul was obedient to what God wanted him to do. He was constrained by the Holy Spirit to go to Jerusalem. He went. And he suffered there. He got beaten and almost killed there outside of the temple. 

And also, Paul was incredibly humble when he got to Jerusalem. He submitted to the will of the church elders in Jerusalem, despite the curiousness of their suggestion. But that didn’t protect him from suffering. Humble people and obedient people suffer all the time. All the time!

I know you’ve heard me say before “Choose to sin; Choose to suffer.” And that’s true. There is a kind of suffering that is self-inflicted. But there is also a suffering that is not self-inflicted. There is a type of suffering that God allows even in the midst of great faithfulness. 

And that suffering is not evidence that you’ve done wrong or that you’ve failed God. It’s not evidence that God doesn’t love you. In fact it’s the opposite. 

The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:12–13, “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

The Bible says in James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:10, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

Suffering is part of your lot in life as a follower of Christ. And I don’t tell you that just so that you will grit your teeth and endure it. I don’t think that’s how Paul or Peter or any of the disciples responded to suffering. As they suffered, they learned to love God more and trust him in deeper ways. And that made the suffering meaningful. All suffering for the believer is meaningful.

I know that not every person in this room is experiencing a season of deep suffering right now. But some of you are. And you needed to hear that. You need to hear that God loves you, and he’s proud of you for your faithfulness. And he will stand by you and help you through it. And he’ll reward you for your faithfulness in eternity. So if that’s you this morning, be encouraged. God loves you. God has a purpose for what he’s having you endure. All suffering for the believer is meaningful.

And if you’re not suffering right now… I don’t think any of us are suffering to the extent that Paul was… just be thankful and praise God and get ready, get spiritual geared up so that when it comes, you’ll be ready.

What else is God teaching us in this passage? Write this down as #3.

3) Love for people sometimes means you sacrifice your freedom

I think the essence of this text, Acts 21:17–36, is found in 1 Corinthians 9:19, “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews” (9:19–20a). Paul also says in verse 22, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (9:22–23).

Now let me be clear about something. Paul did not write those verses in order to encourage people to sin in order to win sinners to Christ. Don’t think to yourself, “Oh, I’m going to become an alcoholic in order to win alcoholics for Jesus. I’m going to become materialistic in order to win materialistic people to Christ.” That’s not what Paul means. And by the way, that doesn’t work. You don’t win people to Christ by becoming more worldly. You win people to Christ by giving them an alternative to the worldliness that they are already drowning in. 

But for non-moral issues… and non-sin issues… And for issues where your conscience and your convictions aren’t compromised… it is appropriate and it is beneficial to sacrifice your personal freedom in order to win people to Christ.

 Remember last week we saw that Paul wasn’t willing to budge on going to Jerusalem. That’s because there was a Holy Spirit conviction inside of him. That was a convictional issue that he couldn’t compromise. But with issues that are non-moral and non-convictional, we need to be willing to budge and lay down our personal freedoms for those who are weaker brothers among us. 

You might say, “Pastor Tony I have the freedom to eat whatever I want to eat. I have the freedom to drink whatever I want to drink. I have the freedom to watch what I want, and to go wherever I want to go, and do whatever I want to do… as long as it’s not sinful… I have freedom in Christ.” 

 Yes, you do. Paul did as well in Acts 21. He didn’t have to go through this Jewish custom to establish a rapport with the Jewish Christians. But he did it anyway because he loved people. He did it because he wanted to see the gospel advanced. He did it to protect the unity of the church. Here’s a quote from F.F. Bruce that I think really drives this point home: “A truly emancipated spirit such as Paul’s is not in bondage to its own emancipation.” 

“I have the freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want to.” Really? Really? 1) First of all, I’m not so sure that’s true if you are a slave to Christ and a slave to righteousness as Paul says we are. 2) And secondly, I hope that you would be willing to lay down that “freedom” like Paul does for the sake of the gospel.

Love for people sometimes means you sacrifice your personal freedom. But also, #4. 

4) Love for unity sometimes means you surrender your preferences 

In a church like ours there are a ton of issues that can become divisive. And there are a number of battle lines that we can draw. I could very easily see Paul draw a battle line when James asked him to participate in this Jewish custom. “No! I will not sanction these vows and take a vow myself just to appease these weak-minded Christians in the church.” Paul could’ve said that. But he didn’t. He sought unity. 

I’ve said this before, it’s a good time to reiterate: “In essentials unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” Sometimes for non-essentials we need to allow for liberty and differences of opinion. And sometimes for non-essentials, we need to lay down our liberty and our preferences for the sake of unity. 

Some people want to fight over everything. They have the same energy for fighting over personal preferences and personal convictions, that they do for the deity of Christ! That’s out of whack. Choose your battles wisely. Choose the right battles. 

Some people think, and I’ve read commentaries that state, that Paul made a mistake here. Some people think that Paul should have stood his ground and fought this battle against those who were circumventing the gospel with their Jewish practice. I personally don’t think that’s the case. But I will say this. If Paul did make a mistake here, he did it with good motives. He desired to win more people to Christ, and he desired to protect the unity of the church. R. Kent Hughes said about this passage, “Paul may have erred in this situation, but if so, it was an error of judgment, not of the heart.” 

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I’ll close with this. Several years ago I had a professor at Moody who told a story about these very religious Dutch ladies back in Holland in the early 1900s. These elderly Dutch women had granddaughters who had immigrated to America. And they heard that these young women had started to wear makeup. And that was a huge no-no in Holland. And these pious old ladies were so troubled by this development that they started to cry. They got together and cried together. And they wept so bitterly that their tears started welling up and streaming down their cheeks. And as it passed their cheeks, it went right past the cigarettes that they were smoking in their mouths. And these tears dripped down their faces to their chins and dropped right into the beers that they were drinking together. 

Now would it be wise for a Christian in that era to avoid wearing makeup in front of those ladies in order to avoid offense? I think so. And would it be wise for Christians to avoid drinking and smoking in some settings to avoid offending someone or making another brother stumble? I think so. 

And I don’t tell you that story so as to advocate for a relativistic ethic in the church. I’m not in favor of that. But it is true that different cultures develop different mores, even in the church. Anyone who has traveled abroad and been to other churches in other countries knows that. And some things are worth fight for and crying over. Other things are not. And it’s not wrong, I don’t think, to accommodate those cultures as best we can in order to protect unity and spread the gospel. 

Paul gives us an example of that here. He yielded his own personal freedom and personal preference, in deference to the elders in Jerusalem, for the sake of unity. 

And what happens next? What’s going to happen to Paul after he gets arrested in Jerusalem? Come back next week and I’ll tell you.