Saturday, July 19, 2008

Galatians-Week 2-Ever met a hypocrite?

The real question is more like "Ever been a hypocrite?" In the next part of Chapter 2, Paul recounts an episode where he had to confront Peter and even his right-hand man Barnabas over behavior which was damaging his message.

11When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?


I've mentioned more than once how much I like Peter. The reason I like him: he messes up. If there's anyone who should know better than to say one thing and do another, it's Peter. Anybody remember the story of Peter, his vision, and his visit to the centurion Cornelius? I posted about it not too long ago. In order to really get the message through to Peter that the law had no impact on salvation and that this gospel applied to all men, God had to send a vision, an interpreter, and a divine appointment complete with wonders performed through the Holy Spirit as Cornelius and his family were saved...to Peter. He confirmed it at the Jerusalem council. But in Antioch, it was time to put it in action. And he was happy to do so, eating with the Gentiles what they ate...until some men claiming to be from the Jerusalem church showed up and put the law about clean and unclean back in place through peer pressure. Peter withdrew from the Gentiles...and took more Jews with him, harming the witness to the church.

And Paul didn't stand for it. He confronted Peter publicly and directly to correct the problem.

10. Thanks, Peter. Thanks, Paul. What do we learn from this? (Not strictly a question, but my brain is tired.) Let's make it multiple choice...
A. Even strong, talented, gifted, inspired leaders can make serious mistakes.
B. Right words without right action = hypocrisy
C. Truth is more important than outward appearance of harmony.
D. "Situation ethics" or changing the rules depending on the crowd is ungodly.
E. Sometimes you just have to confront falsehood.
F. All of the above. (You knew that was coming, right?)

Paul had no trouble confronting Peter to restore the truth. Society's current emphasis on tolerance makes that rare today. Think that's dangerous?