… help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Summary: The struggle between Euodia and Syntyche is not unique. When we consider other disagreements the early church experienced, certain patterns emerge.
It might be helpful to know what Euodia and Syntyche had disagreed about. Of course, since Paul tells us that they were both “in the book of life,” it doesn’t matter to them now. They are enjoying the blessings of heaven and the company of the Lord Jesus. Earthly disagreements carry little weight in heaven.
Yet, while they were in the flesh, something caused them to disagree. Why?
While we can’t know the answer to that question, we can know that they were not alone.
In those days, the “church” was centered around the temple and the synagogues. The division between the temple and the synagogues was a hybrid structure that formed when Israel was forced into exile approximately four hundred years before Christ. Since then, the rebuilt temple was the center of biblical authority, and the synagogues were the local “churches.”
After Christ’s death and resurrection, the Jews could have recognized God’s Son as the Messiah, but they refused. Division followed. When Peter and John continued to proclaim Jesus on the temple grounds, the church authorities threw them in prison (Acts 4:1-4).
Later, after being thrown in prison again, Peter explains, “We must obey God rather than human beings!” (Acts 5:29). His famous response explains why there is sometimes conflict in the church. God can give people individual instructions that differ from what others are told to do (John 3:7-8).
If we expect everyone to see things exactly the same way or to do exactly the same things, we are missing the point of being different parts of the body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31).
Human nature is such that we sometimes get angry if things don’t go the way we think they should. Perhaps the issue with Euodia and Syntyche was not that one was right and the other was wrong, but that they had forgotten they could both be “right.”
Not “right” in the sense of having the answer for everyone else, but “right” in the sense of following the Spirit’s leading in their own lives.
Application: Apply God’s eye medication to see clearly (Matthew 7:3-5).
Food for Thought: What is it about human nature that leads to conflict between believers?
What is it about human nature that leads to conflict between believers?
We are born as self centered beings for our physical survival and are called by God to become His Christ centered people as we repent and are born again.
1 Corinthians 13:11, When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Colossians 1:28, He is the one we proclaim so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
Spiritual growth is life in the power of God as He initiates and supports all who will respond to His calling into our transition from a childlike understanding of faith to a mature, faith that endures challenges as we live according to His Word and the Holy Spirit’s direction. This lifelong process can at times be a bumpy road where we find our old self seeking to control our lives.
Thank you, Ron!
Well said. I, personally, have a lot of bruises from that “bumpy road!”
In a word : sin. We tend to be prideful and love ourselves more than others – when we are commanded to humble ourselves and to love God and others as we love ourselves.
Thank you, Rich!
Yes, trying to hold our pride down can be like trying to hold a basketball underwater — it wants to be on top!