In Acts 15 Luke gives us the story of how believers were trying to impose their beliefs (fragmented as they were) on other believers. Acts 15:1 says “Some men came down from to Judea to Antioch…” They were teaching that unless believers (paraphrased) were circumcised according to the custom taught by Moses that they “…could not be saved.” Most likely the same group of men again brought this forward in Acts 15:5. Here they are identified as believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees. So, learned men who were Jews but converted to Christianity brought at least one and likely other beliefs from their former religious practice to their Christian practice AND they were going about wanting to impose their beliefs on believers who had not come from the same prior religious practice.
SOUND FAMILIAR? Or more to the point, does this sound like you or maybe I should say “ME”. When each of us individually was saved and became a “believers, we brought a bag of beliefs with us (baggage). We may have come from no religious background, a Christian denomination, or other religion (i.e. — Judaism, Islam, etc.). In order to maintain some sense of who we are and where we came from, we hang onto some of the past. That is what these men were doing, but worse, they were trying to impose their beliefs on everyone else.
In Acts 15:7-11, Peter states that God knows men’s hearts, made no distinction between men, and purified men’s hearts (Romans 5:1). He goes on to ask why, when the Jews couldn’t live up to required acts, such as circumcision, should Jewish Christian brothers try to put a “yoke” (the Law) upon gentile Christian brothers. So, the burning question is how do we try to make other Christian brothers and sisters abide by the same exact belief that we have? Don’t fool yourself into thinking that we don’t all do it, because we do. Each of us may have different views on acts of worship or Christian life, but we should not be about trying to impose our belief or will on others. Invariably, when we do, disorder and conflict results. Should we talk with each other, study the Bible individually and with each other to try to let God guide our actions — YES. Should we idly stand by and let something happen that we know is unscriptural — NO. That is when we have to stand up and speak out. In matters that don’t go against scripture, we should be willing to work together for the good of all, which will enrich the lives of Christians and the Church.
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Amen to your comments about the baggage that we all carry around with us. A study of church history makes us realize that none of us are like New Testament Christianity. The Reformation and Restoration produced a new set of baggage that many of us have accepted as Biblically authentic. It behooves all of us to study the Bible for ourselves rather than what man has taught us. And an hour of Bible study on Sunday morning is not sufficient.