Galatians 2:11-14 / Speak Up.
Galatians 2:11-14 / Speak Up.
*“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step 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 force the Gentiles to live like Jews?””*
Here is the scene:
Cephas (the apostle Peter) was eating with some Gentiles (non-Jewish people) when the apostle James and some other influential Jewish Christian leaders arrived.
Gentiles weren’t circumcised (we can talk about that later...) and therefore some Jewish Christians believed they could not be fully accepted into the church.
Peter was being a hypocrite. He was fearing the judgment of James and the others and therefore he treated the Gentiles like second-class citizens.
This is where Paul gives us an incredible example to follow.
*He spoke up.*
He saw that Peter’s actions were “not in step with the truth of the gospel” and he spoke up.
The Gentiles were not being seen or treated as bearers of the image of God.
The Gentiles were not being seen as children of God saved by His loving sacrifice.
Jesus died for the Gentile table just as much as he died for the Jewish table.
Paul spoke up. He spoke up against one of the most influential leaders of the church at the time, and he confronted him even though his spiritual father, Barnabas, had gone along in the sin.
**Speak up.**
Speak up when you see someone not been treated as a they should be.
Speak up when you see something not in step with the truth.
Speak up even when others don’t.
Hold everything up against the “truth of the Gospel” which never changes.
Let’s be a people who speak up.
With much love,
Pastor Dave