I find Paul’s decision-making in Acts 15 and 16 to be fascinating and full of tension. There is tension in Paul’s disagreement—and subsequent split—with Barnabas. And God never clarifies who is right, which only increases that tension. Paul’s decision to partner with Silas and Timothy, as opposed to Barnabas and John Mark, is also quite tense. Furthermore, Paul’s decision to travel again and again to dangerous places, like Lystra, breeds tension.

Yet, Paul’s decision to tell Timothy to get circumcised is perhaps the greatest tension of all, and it is the most fascinating part of the entire sequence of events. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul absolutely blasts the circumcision party for being too dogmatic about the Mosaic Law! But in Acts 16, Paul opts to bypass the entire debate about circumcision because it so often devolves into irreverent babble and quarrels about secondary or superficial things. Paul recognizes that the circumcision debate promotes what is falsely called “knowledge,” subsequently causing people to swerve from the faith through fruitless arguments that do no good, ruining the hearers, and leading people into more ungodliness, gangrenous chatter, ignorant controversies, and useless quarrels.

Ultimately, Paul’s decision to tell Timothy to get circumcised is his way of pursuing personal joy and working with others for their joy (2 Cor. 1:24). It applies the wisdom and freedom of 2 Timothy 2:23–26, which says, “Avoid being quarrelsome, be kind to everyone, opt for a climate where actually being able to teach is a possibility, patiently endure evil, and correct opponents with gentleness. After all, you never know—God may perhaps grant your opponents repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth, allowing them to come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will” (italics mine).