Paul may well have heard rumours of what had happened. After all it was a big moment between two giants. It is fresh in Paul’s mind, it was not long ago and he needs to set the record straight.
What went wrong?
“When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before 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. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas 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?” (Galatians 2 v 11-14)
What went wrong was that Peter visited Paul and Barnabas in Antioch and Paul noticed that he had resorted to his old nature.
He had stopped eating with the Gentiles when Jewish leaders who worked with James came down from Jerusalem. Peter stepped out of being in alignment with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The life-transforming gospel made the ceremonial laws as a means of entrance to the presence of God obsolete. Paul’s letter is centred on this major truth. This is why he has written to the Galatians and he starts with this fall-out.
There was so much going on in Peter’s mind which resulted in this change of behaviour and Paul sees it.
- There was fear.
The weakness of our souls is that we can promise but not follow through. “I will never disown you” is promised with the background noise of the sound of the rooster and we have done it countlessly. It isn’t that we didn’t mean the promise. But the fear of offending important people overcame the fear of breaking the promise. If these leaders from James saw Peter mixing with the Gentiles as equals in the gospel they would be offended. Offending the gospel was not as feared as what people think.
Is there anyone who intimidates you? You know who they are if when they speak you begin to shrink, your vision and joy moves into diminishing mode and their thoughts of you matter more than the mission God has given you for this life.
- There was hypocrisy
The strangeness of this account is that Peter had already had a battle with the Jerusalem church. In Acts 11 he was chastised for going into the home of the Gentile Cornelius. He stood up against them explaining the vision he had on the roof and how the entire family had come to Jesus and been baptised in the Holy Spirit. But because of resident fear it led to hypocrisy within. Fear will cause us to act out what we don’t really believe. The outward appearance disguising the inner reality. Peter behaved in a way that he knew wasn’t right and Paul called it out. We all have done this. Actually we have all been guilty of calling it out in others and at the same time committing the sin of hypocrisy! We have no place or position to think we are better than anyone else.
Do you know the horrible feeling of having to compromise because you didn’t want to offend some important person? You see even though we have experienced salvation and been filled with the power of God there is still that part of us that wants Jesus not to go to the cross because it is dangerous for us too and when we see him going that direction we decide to cut ears off people. We compromise for all kinds of reasons. And when it is public we begin to influence even the loveliest of people. Even Barnabas …. Yes even him. The one who had brought Saul from Tarsus to the Church in the first place. The one who had joined Paul in teaching and preaching and seeing the hand of God perform miracle after miracle. Yes him! Your team member, your friend, your loved one. It is heart-breaking.
Yes there are times when even senior church leaders end in confrontation.
But before you start the day perhaps saddened about this story I just have to remind you about how Peter reflects on it years later.
“Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him…” (2 Peter 3:15)
‘Dear brother’!
Paul called him a hypocrite! Years later Peter calls Paul ‘dear brother’ or ‘beloved’.
Would you be able to say ‘I love that person’ when that person had hurt you years earlier? Or would you write that person off. Burn the bridge. Never to let that person near you ever again. You might be forgiven for thinking like that. But not Peter. He loved Paul.
That doesn’t just happen does it? It takes a deep self-awareness; facing the truth and maybe even admitting to the truth and changing one’s way because the truth can hurt before it sets you free.
Are there any prisoners in your heart today?
Missions Paul 