Cooperation and Chalenge, Part 2

Galatians: A Study of Christian Freedom

During this series I have distributed note sheets and some questions for reflection.  I have included those with this post.

Lesson 4:  Cooperation and Challenge, Part 2

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch, 

Paul’s final story takes place in Syrian Antioch.  If Jerusalem was the center of outreach to the Jewish population, Antioch was the center of outreach to the Gentiles.  Keep in mind that while the Book of Acts focuses on Paul taking the gospel westward, other less well-known evangelists were taking it eastward.  And they would be very successful.  In fact, until about 800 there were more Christians east of Damascus than west.  

Sometime after the events described earlier in this chapter, Peter paid a visit to Antioch.  Apparently everything was harmonious and true Christian unity was displayed.  That didn’t last.

I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; 

Paul puts it bluntly:  “I opposed him to his face.”  Today Paul might have put it this way, “I got up in his face.”  

Imagine that, here is one of the most famous of the Apostles visiting the Christians in Antioch, a man who had walked with Jesus during his entire earthly ministry, the man who preached to the crowds on the Day of Pentecost when the promised Holy Spirit came on the church.  It was an honor to have him there and now Paul stands nose to nose with him and challenges him.  Why?  

“Because,” Paul says, “he stood self-condemned.”  His behavior was blameworthy.  What was that behavior? Paul explains.

¹² for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. 

When Peter first arrived in Antioch “he used to eat with the Gentiles.”  Maybe we shouldn’t picture him going out with the whole gang and having bacon-cheeseburgers at the local Wendy’s but the implication is that he had set aside the kosher rules while he was there and was enjoying eating with the Gentiles who had trusted Christ.  We don’t know how long this lasted but it was a time of rich and warm fellowship.

Then “certain people came [to Antioch] from James.” Historians and commentators don’t agree about whether this group actually represented James.  If they did, they may have gone beyond their remit in trying to stop table-fellowship among Jews and Gentiles.  In any case, Peter let their presence change his behavior.

But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. 

Again, we can use our imagination to try to picture Peter’s actions.  Try to see him picking up his plate and moving to another table.  He didn’t want to be seen eating with Gentiles.  It was an unquestionable insult but it was more.

It implied that somehow there remained a spiritual barrier between Jews and non-Jews, that there was no fundamental equality among the believers.  Leon Morris raised an interesting possibility about the context of this behavior.

"It may be that the observance of holy communion was involved in this, for it seems that often in the early church it was celebrated at a meal shared by all the believers.  If this was the case at Antioch, there would have been a division of believers at the table of the Lord."

Remember, this is the man who had that powerful vision/dream as he prayed on the rooftop of Simon the tanner’s house.  Ultimately, Peter concluded the vision meant he “should not call any person common or unclean.”  That prepared Peter to introduce the gospel to the Gentiles by preaching to the Roman Cornelius.  When the church leaders in Jerusalem challenged Peter on this, he explained about the vision and what had happened when he preached to Cornelius.  Then he said, “If then God gave the same gift to [the Gentiles] as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way.” (Acts 11:17)  So, what had happened to this man whom God had chosen to introduce the gospel to the Gentiles? (Acts 15:7)

“Fear” happened.  Peter was afraid of the so-called “circumcision faction.”  This may have been some of the same group that had caused trouble when Paul had visited Jerusalem; they had the same agenda--requiring Christians to embrace the trappings of Judaism.  They may have possessed influence beyond their numbers.  Perhaps he worried they would be able to subvert his work back in Jerusalem or even lead to his being ostracized in Jerusalem.  

Fear can grip anyone.  In this case, it gripped an apostle who had previously shown great boldness.  

Sadly, his fear was contagious.

¹³ And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 

After Peter stepped away from the Gentile table, others followed.  Doubtless, Paul watched with dismay as one Jewish-Christian after another abandoned their Gentile brothers and sisters in Christ.  Then, to his shock, Barnabus, the man who had ministered alongside him in preaching the gospel of grace, walked away from the Gentiles.  We don’t know, but it is not impossible that some of those Gentiles had actually been led to Christ through the witness of Barnabus.

As Paul watched the scene, one world came to mind; one of the strongest words that can ever be used to describe the behavior of another Christian:  “hypocrisy.”

¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

What did Paul mean when he said these Christians, led by Peter, were practicing hypocrisy?  There’s a great description in these words: “they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel.”  They were not “acting consistently.”  We might say, their walk didn’t match their talk.  Peter, Barnabus, and the rest of the Jewish-Christians who had walked away from table-fellowship with the Gentile-Christians knew what the gospel was about.  They knew it was a message of grace.  But they were not behaving as if they knew that.

It’s very easy to forget the gospel is a message of grace.  We so easily slip into a mode that says my salvation or, at least, my spiritual condition depends upon my doing something.  Usually something really hard.  Years ago I read that John Wesley got up at four every morning to read the Bible and pray.  I tried that but just couldn’t do it.  I was sure there was something deficient about my faith. 

  Of course, then I read about John Wesley’s wife.  Without going into details, let me say he probably got up at four so he could have at least a few hour of peace and quiet--and physical safety.  

I can’t help but think that if I had been successful in getting up at four to pray and study, I would have soon been saying things like, “You get up at 6:30 to pray; where’s your commitment?”  

Since Peter was the leader in the defection, Paul focuses on him.  

Allow me to paraphrase, Paul says, “Hey, I had to cast lots with you the other night for the last pork chop and now you want these Gentiles to go all kosher, what’s up with that?”

In those few words, Paul negates Peter’s attempt to look good before the boys from headquarters.  And, he demands Peter do some serious thinking about the circumcision party’s agenda.

OBSERVATIONS:

1  This is a story about three good guys whose contribution to the early church was profound.

--Paul, “Apostle Extraordinary,” author of much of the New Testament; Barnabus, encourager and mentor to some of the great leaders of the young church; and Peter, one of Jesus’ first disciples and the man whose preaching, according to tradition, formed the basis of the gospel written by John Mark.

--This episode isn’t grounds for discounting Peter, though Protestants have historically been tempted to use the story for that reason.

--Peter made a mistake; Barnabus made a mistake.  In a few years, Paul would make a mistake by writing off as unreliable a young man named John Mark, who had made a mistake.  

--If making a mistake barred a person from every again doing ministry, most seminary graduates would last past the first two years.  

--When you think of good guys who have made mistakes, keep in mind the what Paul would later say in this letter:  “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are living by the Spirit should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.”

2  Occasionally we need to examine our lives to see if we are somehow “not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel.”

--We may not have a Paul to call our attention to our manifest failure to live honestly and consistently.  

--We may have to do some serious work in determining if we really understand the Biblical ideal around which we claim to have built our lives.  Remember, throughout much of the history of our nation, thousands of Christians allowed the norms of society and the dictates of economics to so shape their views that they believed the Bible sanctioned the institution of slavery.

--We may need to ask tough questions:  I know what everyone says, but what does the Bible really say?  Am I responding to peer pressure?  Am I letting my attitudes and behavior be shaped by a “celebrity?”  Have I let fear decide my actions?

3 If you care about truth, you may sometime have to take a stand, even if it means standing alone.

--Paul watched as the Jewish Christian believers moved to join Peter, leaving their Gentile brothers and sisters as if they were second-class members of the church.  Eventually even Barnabus had huddled with the circumcision clique.  Only Paul  remained to defend the non-Jewish believers.  They couldn’t defend themselves for the  posse from Jerusalem would immediately discount everything they said.  It was up to Paul.

--In a culture that wears a facade of relativism, it’s sometimes hard to take a stand for the truth since so many claim to believe there is no truth.  While few people really live like that, you might need to be prepared to be criticized. That can be unpleasant but standing up for truth isn’t a popularity contest. 

How you take a stand my vary from place to place.  Paul felt a in-your-face confrontation with Peter was the best approach at Antioch.  You might get by with a “With all due respect, I beg to differ” approach.  

4  When you take a stand, stand on something worth the effort.

QUESTIONS FOR LATER

1  Do you think this story has any historical or theological implications for the history of the church?  What are they? 

2 Have you every been so afraid of criticism by a “religious” person you’ve changed your behavior even though your behavior was not wrong or sinful?  What were the circumstances?

3  Paul would eventually write “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people.” (Romans 12:17)  Do you think Paul’s behavior contradicted that principle?  Why or why not?

4  In an age when many deny the existence of “true truth,” how do we handle challenges to the essentials of the Christian message?