Galatians 2:11-14
Standing up to someone who is over you, especially in your
business life can be risky, and yet there are times when no matter the risk a
person must take a stance. Our division
had a national sales meeting and both the marketers and the lab and upper
management were present. Our Human
Resource person, we will call him A.J., was speaking and his theme was “nothing
is black and white,” for in all things there is a lot of gray. One of our salesmen, Greg Stoval who is a Christian
stood and asked the question, sir, are you telling us there is no such thing as
good and evil? The speaker made light of
Greg’s question and went on with his talk, and that is when I stood and ask
this question: “A.J. when I was hired by 3M I was told there are two reasons we
will fire you, one is for lying and the other is for stealing, are you now
telling us that it is ok to lie a little bit and to steal a little bid, and if
so, who determines how much? I must
testify the man was not able to answer my questions, and I am sure that it did
not endear me to the Human Resource group.
My account is not even close to what the apostle Paul is
doing in encountering the apostle Peter, for Peter was highly esteemed in the
Church. This is Paul’s account of the
encounter: “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?”
When
I stood up in that meeting, I did it to support a man I respected, a brother
who was being made light of by the speaker, but the apostle Paul stood for the
gospel of Jesus Christ. You made be
wondering who these men were who came from James, and I am not sure, but we
have this account in Acts 15:1, “But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the
brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you
cannot be saved.” This was
the reason Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem and this false gospel proclaimed
by these Jews was not the gospel of Peter or James, but it seemed that these
Jews intimidated Peter. What added to
Peter’s hypocrisy was that in a dream from God, Peter was told to go to
Cornelius’ home and share the gospel with him and his household. He did so and broke Jewish law by entering a
Gentile’s house and by eating with them.
So Peter has been eating with the Gentiles at Syrian Antioch, until
these Jews arrived and guess what, he cowered and withdrew from the Gentiles
and so did the other Jews that had come with him, and also Barnabas was led
astray by their hypocrisy.
Now
listen to the apostle Paul’s words; “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?” My precious wife
reminded me this morning the Holy Spirit is peace, He is the Peace Jesus left
for us, and fear is when we abandon peace.
We are told in Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trust
in the Lord is kept safe.”
From
the Back Porch,
Bob
Rice
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