Growth Through Controversy

Whenever we’re confronted with something new, we’re forced to consider and re-evaluate the accuracy of what we know. Are our beliefs still true and this new information irrelevant? Does this new information expand our understanding or provide clarification? Or does this new information prove our previous beliefs to be false? We might wish God would speak decisively and clearly when it comes to matters of faith, but as we study the growth of the early church, we observe how God even uses the believers' careful work of discernment in disagreements and controversy to continue his mission to spread the light of salvation to all nations.