Public confrontation
Confrontation never a comfortable situation, especially public
Personal story – illustration Brad (someone had to fire due to attitude) He left me no choice, there was a big public confrontation>
Conflict in Antioch
Gal 2: 11-14 (NIV) 11 When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12 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 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. Peter ate with the Gentiles
V12 – Peter ate with the Gentiles before the visit from James’ people
Cornelius – Acts 10-11
Cornelius was told by an angel to send for Peter in Joppa
While Cornelius’ servants were on their way, Peter was on the roof and had a vision
Acts 10: 11-16 (NIV) 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13 Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." 14 "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." 16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
The the men from Cornelius showed up, Peter went with them,
When he got to the house of Cornelius in Cesarea, Cornelius told him about his vision of an angel telling him to send for Peter.
Acts 10 34 Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right
Then Peter witnessed to Cornelius and his household – he shared the gospel with them.
Cornelius had invited his relatives and close friends.
Acts 10 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
They were all baptized right away
From the story of Cornelius we know that Peter has deep convictions on the subject of Gentile believers being equal to Jewish believers.
He was told by God in a vision to accept them. Peter believed God. Peter trusted God
So it is no surprise to find Peter eating with the Gentile believers in Antioch
The practice of eating with the Gentiles would also have included the Lord’s Supper
It would have been a very encouraging and affirming thing for the Gentile believers in Antioch – to have Peter, perhaps the most well known of the apostles, eating with them and sharing the Lords Supper
It was living out what God had shown Peter in his vision,
It was living out what had been agreed upon at the Jerusalem conference. Jewish and Gentile followers of Christ on completely equal footing.
II. Peter withdrew from the Gentiles
V12b – When they arrived he drew back – who were they?
Paul does not tell us, but it really doesn’t matter
What does matter is what they told Peter
he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.
Who are those who belonged to the circumcision group?
If you just read it through it sounds like he may be talking about the men from James.
But why would Peter be afraid of them? They are from the church in Jerusalem, Peter is a pillar in that church, and he would have no reason to fear them.
One of the keys to this passage is the phrase used for the group of people Peter fears.
In verse 12 NIV translates it as those who belonged to the circumcision group
But the same word in the original Greek (peritome’)is used 2 other times in this chapter of Galatians, in verse 7 and verse 9. The word by itself means circumcision. It can also refer to those who are circumcised – the Jews.
The use of the word is determined by its context. In both verse 7 and in verse 9 it refers to non-Christian Jews.
If we stay with that meaning from the immediate context, then he cannot be referring to the same men that were sent by James, because they would be Jewish Believers.
So if the circumcision group is non-Christian Jews, why would Peter be afraid of them when he had been so bold in his proclamation of the gospel to them?
And how are brought into the story here?
It’s not really spelled out for us in the passage, but we can bring some historical fact to bear on this to help us understand what may be going on in here in Antioch
From history we know that during the 40’s and 50’s in the area of Judea, Jewish Christians faced harsh treatment from zealous Traditional Jews for socializing with Gentiles.
This hostility arose from fierce Jewish nationalism. They were the chosen people. This is their God, and you are bringing outsiders into the inner circle. – how dare you!
It is likely that the men sent from James merely reported to Peter that his open and unrestricted fellowship with the Gentiles in Antioch, due to his position in the church had either caused or was leading to persecution of the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.
Now Peter was faced with a real problem. He was between a rock and a hard place.
He knew that his fellowship with the Gentiles in Antioch was right in God’s eyes,
But he had the Jews in Jerusalem to think about as well.
Not only were Jewish believers facing hostility from Jewish nationalists, but his open fellowship with the Gentiles was putting a wedge between the church in Jerusalem and the very Jews that they were trying to reach. It was hurting their witness.
Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, Peter was the apostle to the Jews, they were his primary responsibility.
So even though he knew that what he had been doing was right, and that the Jewish Zealots were wrong, he withdrew from the practice of eating with the Gentiles.
It seemed like a little thing really, didn’t it?
He’s not telling them they can’t be Christians after all,
He just isn’t eating with them anymore, he was just being practical.
I’m sure some of us might have done the same thing
The other Jewish Christians in Antioch followed Peter’s lead.
In v13 Paul says the other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy.
Notice that Paul says Hypocrisy, not Heresy
Peter knew the true gospel, Peter believed in the true gospel
Peter believed that the gospel was for Jew and Gentile alike
But Peter’s actions were not in line with his deeply held convictions about the true gospel
That’s the definition of Hypocrisy, when our actions do not match up with what we believe or what we say we believe.
Peter and the other Jewish believers in Antioch were influenced more by their racial identity as Jews and less by their newfound unity in Christ with believers of all nations
Paul is a little hurt here because even Barnabas has been led astray.
This is Barnabas, the same man who had stood with Paul at the Jerusalem conference regarding this same subject.
This is the same Barnabas that helped Paul plant new churches in Galatia,
The same Barnabas who was the first pastor at the church in Antioch
He was the last person Paul expected to fall victim to this error in judgement
It can be frightening to see how someone we know to be otherwise sane and reasonable gets swept away by emotion during a church crisis.
In the heat of the conflict they lose their sense of perspective and proportion
We can’t underestimate the emotional power of national pride and racial identity
We shouldn’t be too surprised that the Jewish Christians in Antioch put their own Jewish interests ahead of the welfare of Christ’s church.
It has happened again and again throughout history.
It happened in our own denomination
The reason there is a Southern Baptist Convention is because it was formed in 1845
To differentiate it from the Baptists in the North.
Slavery had been around for a couple hundred years before that time,
It probably started as indentured servitude, a way to pay off debt, but black folks had no recourse when a slave owner decided their term didn’t need to send
But it became a huge issue for Baptists after 1830 or so
It was not that they wanted to deny black people the privilege of Salvation
They believed God’s word that says His Kingdom includes every tongue every tribe, and every nation.
But darn it, slavery was profitable in the South, it was something they had grown up with
They didn’t want the slaves to start getting funny ideas about equality in Christ that would lead to a disturbance in the life they had grown accustomed to
One piece of legislation said and I quote “The conferring of baptism does not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or freedom.”
Our ancestors showed incredible hypocrisy in what they did
Their actions did not line up with their deeply held convictions about the true gospel – the gospel for every man woman and child on this earth.
The national tri-ennial Baptist Convention would not come out and say one way or the other whether they would accept a slave owner as a foreign missionary. They wanted to stay neutral on the issue, because it was divisive.
So Baptists in the South started their own convention.
It was just 2 years ago that the SBC issued a statement of apology for its early practices that failed to affirm the equality that we all have in Christ, regardless of race
How can you say you believe that we are all equal in Christ but support slavery
That’s hypocrisy
How can you say that you believe all life is sacred, but support abortion
That’s hypocrisy
There are times when staying neutral and avoiding conflict are NOT what God wants us to do.
When our brothers have fallen out of line with scripture, when their actions are not in line with the word of God, with the true gospel, we have to stand up, we have to speak out
Even if it means a public confrontation
That is just what Paul does in Antioch
III. Paul Confronted Peter
14 When 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?
Why did Paul feel compelled to confront Peter in public
Because he was not acting in line with the truth of the gospel
This is not some power struggle in the church- it might have been easy to let it turn into one
Paul does not appeal to his authority as a leader in the church, as an apostle commissioned by Christ Himself.
Paul doesn’t even remind Peter of the agreement reached at the Jerusalem conference
Paul is interested in the truth of the gospel, it is what triggered his rebuke, it is what his rebuke is based on , and it is where Paul receives his authority
Paul draws Peter’s focus to the inconsistency of his actions
Peter, “you are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew”
It was against Jewish law and tradition for Peter to eat with the Gentiles, but he had found his freedom in Christ.
Christ fulfilled the law and had set Peter Free. Peter could have fellowship with the Gentile believers because they were his brothers in Christ.
If the son has set you free then you are free indeed!
But now, by withdrawing from his table fellowship with Gentiles, they were getting a message.
It was a message Peter may not have intended, but the message from his actions was loud and clear.
Gentiles: If you want to have fellowship with me, and with Jewish Christians, then you must become a Jew. You have to follow our laws and customs (circumcision)
Paul was robbing them Gentiles of the very freedom from the law that he had been so blessed with.
While Peter may have saved the Jewish believers in Jerusalem from some harsh treatment,
He had placed in jeopardy the very unity of the church as a whole Jews and Gentiles alike. This was no small matter
We can say to ourselves, there is no way I would let something like that happen.
I stand for the truth of the gospel.
But we need to be aware that we are susceptible. Peter, James, Barnabas,
These were pretty strong Christians, and they fell into the trap
In the mid 1800’s here in America, our church was full of strong Christians who allowed inequality and division based on race to creep into the church
And the effects have been with us to this day.
There are people in churches today who try to somehow harmonize abortion with the gospel. It can’t be done
I think abortion will be looked back at one day like we look at slavery now
And people will wonder why we stayed so silent
Do YOU have a standard set in your mind for what church folks should look like?
Do you think people who come to our church should dress a certain way
Look a certain way, act a certain way, follow certain rules, traditions
-Be Careful, we don’t want to set ourselves up for making divisions in the church based on race, age, occupation, anything
