Converts and Conflict

Christianity has never advanced on a single front. From the beginning, the Kingdom has moved forward with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other—building while battling, sowing while defending. Jesus Himself framed the work this way: wheat and tares, sheep and wolves, seed and sabotage.

If your idea of church is uninterrupted peace, you won’t last long in the book of Acts. The First Missionary Journey makes that plain.

For nearly a decade, Paul lived in obscurity in his hometown of Tarsus. He worked. He waited. He suffered quietly. And then—when most men settle into comfort—God summoned him into the most demanding season of his life. Just 86 miles away, something explosive was happening in Antioch.

Persecution scattered believers after Stephen’s martyrdom, and the gospel crossed a crucial line: Gentiles began hearing—and believing—the message of Christ (Acts 11). Antioch became the first truly multi-ethnic church, and it changed everything.

Barnabas was sent to investigate. He saw the grace of God at work and immediately went looking for Paul. For a full year, they taught together in Antioch. It was here—significantly—that believers were first called Christians. The church was growing. It was generous. And it was ready.

Antioch had gifted leaders. Most churches would have clung to them. Instead, Antioch fasted and prayed. And while they ministered to the Lord, the Holy Spirit spoke plainly: “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” This was no symbolic gesture. The laying on of hands meant shared risk. Antioch wasn’t outsourcing missions—they were going with them.

This moment marks the first intentional missionary movement of the Church.

The team sailed from Seleucia to Cyprus, Barnabas’s home territory. Two watershed moments occur here:

• Sergius Paulus, a Roman governor, is converted—the first high-ranking Gentile official to believe.
• Saul begins using his Roman name, Paul—a strategic move for the Gentile mission.

More importantly, leadership shifts. Luke subtly changes his language from “Barnabas and Saul” to “Paul and his companions.” God was clarifying the call.

After a grueling inland journey, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch. Here, Paul preached his first recorded sermon—a sweeping review of Israel’s history culminating in Christ, calling hearers to repentance and faith. The response was electric. Then came jealousy.

Religious leaders contradicted Paul publicly, and a decisive line was drawn: the gospel would now go directly to the Gentiles. Controversy clarified the mission.

In Iconium, the pattern repeated:

• Strong response
• Growing opposition
• Threat of violence

When a lynch mob formed, Paul and Barnabas crossed the border into a new region. Wisdom sometimes looks like retreat—but it serves the advance of the gospel.

In Lystra, raw paganism replaced synagogue debates. After Paul healed a crippled man, the crowd mistook Barnabas and Paul for Zeus and Hermes. When Jewish opponents arrived and stirred the people, worship turned to violence.

Paul was stoned and left for dead. The next day, he stood up—and walked 55 miles to Derbe. This is not fragile faith. This is gospel resolve.

Instead of taking the easy route home, Paul and Barnabas revisited every hostile city, strengthening disciples and appointing elders. They returned to Antioch in Syria having traveled over 1,000 miles, most of it on foot.

And then the real theological battle began. The Jerusalem Decision: Grace Without Additions. Some insisted Gentiles must become Jewish to be saved. Paul refused.

The issue wasn’t cultural preference—it was the gospel itself. At Jerusalem, the apostles affirmed the truth: Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. No circumcision. No law-keeping. No additions. Unity was preserved without compromising truth.

The First Missionary Journey teaches us enduring lessons:

• The Church advances by intentional mission, not passive comfort
• Some doctrines are closed-handed—worth fighting for others, like the name of Saul, could be open-handed.
• Gospel clarity often emerges through conflict
• Faithful ministry requires stamina, courage, and conviction

Christianity is not a cruise—it is a battle campaign. And the work continues.