Good Morning Friends,
“Fourteen years later I went up again to
Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response
to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the
Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear
that I was running or had run my race in vain.” (Galatians 2:1-2)
The attitude Paul demonstrated by the actions
he describes in this passage tells us a lot about him and about the church in
its early days. It tells us something about the church then that is
significantly different from the church of today.
Today, the church is made up of very
independent, disconnected, and stubborn people. Each faction in the church
believes it has a lock of truth -- it has the gospel right and all of the other
factions are wrong in some aspect or another. There is so little discussion
among the various factions to try to understand the different perspectives or
seek to reconcile the differences in opinions.
But that wasn’t true in Paul’s day. Paul
expressed an attitude of interdependence, connection, and humility of spirit.
In the first chapter of Galatians, he indicated that he had received the
message that he preached by direct revelation from God. Yet, when some brought
what he preached into question, he sought out the leaders of the church in
Jerusalem to be sure that what he was preaching was right. He was willing to
submit his message to the oversight of others.
In our day, Paul simply would have ignored
the questions and if people had a problem with what he was teaching they could
just leave his church and start another. In today’s climate, the church would
quickly have split into the Pauline churches and the other groups who disagreed
with them.
Paul practiced what Jesus prayed for: “May
they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and
have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:23)
His, by Grace,
Steve
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