Avoiding Costly Mistakes At All Costs - Tolerance
Acts 15:1-29; Galatians 2:11-14
Pastor Don Jones
West Glendale Baptist Church
We live in a world today that expects tolerance; tolerance of alternate life-styles, tolerance of other religions, and tolerance of others habits and sexual preferences. If you are not tolerant on the job you will be sent to diversity training within the company. If you do it again you risk dismissal. You are expected to accept everyone and everything.
There are even new words that have replaced old ones to better reflect this culture of diversity. I did a little research this last week and found lists of politically correct words to help us better understand what is happening in our world. John Leo says in, "Double Trouble Speak," U.S. News and World Report, 4, 11 July 2005, 30:
"We have trouble saying what we mean. A receptionist is now a "director of first impressions." Singles and childless couples are called by Disney "pre-families", which also seeks to welcome "post-family" customers (widowers, empty nesters). Hospitals are really good at this: When your hospital bill registers $58 for a "thermal therapy unit," that means you got an ice pack. If you’re told your problem is "supratentorial," that means "it’s all in your head." Getting fired is always ripe for language somersaults: in England firing someone is called "icing" because someone from ICE: Involuntary Career Event breaks the news. My favorite though is "selected out through performance management assessments" or "agreed departures."
Cue slide - The Dictionary
The trouble with this new dialogue is that it only confuses communication, it really doesn’t help. When we don’t use the same dictionary it becomes impossible to communicate.
Recently, a judge was presiding over a case in a small,
rural county. The defendant was charged with drunk driving and trying
to assault the police officer who arrested him. To convict the
defendant on the assault on an officer charge, the District Attorney
had to prove that the defendant knew the person he was assaulting was
a police officer. And the easiest way to do that is to show that the
officer was wearing a police uniform, and therefore the defendant knew
that this was a police officer.
So the District Attorney asked the officer on the witness stand "And
how were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?"
The witness looked at him blankly. It was clear he didn’t know what
the District Attorney meant by "attired". Everyone saw this but the
District Attorney.
"Would you repeat the question, please?"
In a slightly irritated voice the District Attorney said, "And how
were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?"
The witness still was puzzled. "Say that again", he pleaded.
"How were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?" barked the
District Attorney.
My friend said you could suddenly see the light bulb come on in the
officer’s head, and he proudly proclaimed " I was traveling on
standard issue radial tires!"
This officer needed an interpreter even within the English language!
In a few months, we are going to ask everyone in the church from teen to adult to take a series of classes on what we believe. We all need to use the same dictionary, to speak and understand the same language.
Cue slide - The Dispute
We find the New Testament deals with this problem of communication. The church in Antioch was in its beginnings and it was already having this crisis of definition. One of the words they were using was causing quite a stir. There was difficulty with it being defined. That word was salvation. Verses 1-2 says,
Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
The Judiazers were saying that in order to be "completely" saved, a gentile must accept Jesus as Lord and needed to be circumcised and follow Jewish customs and traditions. Imagine, we are at a point in time when the gospel of Jesus Christ is in its infancy and there are some who are already trying to add their own interpretation to what it means.
Paul and Barnabas were in sharp disagreement. They knew that in order to attain salvation a person need accept, believe, and trust on the name of Jesus Christ. "It is by grace we are saved". Unfortunately at this point there was no New Testament to affirm what Paul was preaching. He hadn’t written most of it yet.
Cue slide - The "Defining Moment"
They traveled to the Jerusalem Council to speak to the elders. These men were the apostles and others who were proven in the faith and who made decisions regarding the practice of the New Testament church. They were the "definers" or the unwritten dictionary of the faith. What they said came to be the truth in any matter of faith and the church. They had walked with Jesus and heard His words. When they got to Jerusalem they reported what had been done at Antioch. Verse 4 says,
When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
The question came before them. It was a crucial decision concerning the faith that we hold today. "What does it mean to be saved?" A wrong decision could have meant we would have been circumcised and following all Jewish law. Fortunately a familiar individual steps forward. Verses 6-11 says,
The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
Peter, that "leap before you look" disciple, the one who almost walked on water, the one who denied Jesus three times, tells the apostles and elders what it means to be saved. Perhaps it is because he denied Jesus three times that he knows it is by grace. If it were not by grace, Peter would have no hope after all of his stunts.
James, the head of the Jerusalem Council makes the final declaration. He says,
It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
You might say, pastor they were to abstain from certain things, "Why isn’t that an addition to the gospel?" Those were the practices of their old idol worship and it would have caused many to stumble to the point that the Gospel would have been rejected. Those things would have ruined their testimony.
Cue slide - The Disappointment
It is at this point we are going to look at the costly mistake of tolerance to the point of sin. We pick up this story in the book of Galatians. We know that Galatians is a book written in direct dispute with the practice of the Judiazers and what they taught. Galatians 1:6- says,
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
What had happened? The Judiazers had come to town and were preaching a different gospel. They were causing the believers confusion and in some cases causing them to fall away. But the real problem is in Galatians 2:11-13. We find an all too familiar name in the middle if the dispute making a costly mistake, his name is Peter.
When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12Before 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. 13The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
We are not really sure of the time frame of this dispute in Antioch. I believe it was after the declaration by the Jerusalem Council concerning the gospel. Peter was waffling in his commitment to the gospel. He was living a different definition than the one spelled out by the council. The problem here is, Peter was an apostle, a "pillar" of the church. Verse 9 says,
James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me.
The image of the "pillar" is significant. It means one who under girds, who holds up, who supports and braces. These men were held in high regard to the point that they were seen as foundational to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, they were because they made decision affecting the church. The problem was, one of the pillars was cracking.
Cue slide - The Wrong Definition
Peter, instead of standing firm, was tacitly agreeing with the Judiazers. I don’t believe he was preaching this false gospel but he was being seen with them and in doing so he was condoning their actions and message. What he lived, defined what he believed. James tells us, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says". What we do in our lives can lead others astray even though we never speak to them.
The way we live speaks to others concerning what we believe. I had lunch yesterday with a man who is Pentecostal. He and I both said that in the old days we could not have been seen with each other at all. We would have stood in direct conflict with our denominations. Not because of the gospel but because of that pesky tongue thing. But frankly, I have always believed that we can differ on practice, as long as we agree on the importance of the gospel and the doctrines that are unshakable. Peter however, was eating and agreeing with the Judaizers who actively sought to pervert the truth. And, he was tolerant to the point of sin.
Cue Slide - Avoiding the Mistake of Tolerating Error
How could Peter avoid this costly mistake? First, he should have remembered the words of Jesus and the Jerusalem council. He was the one who stood for the gospel of grace. He rendered a brilliant argument in support of the gospel. For some reason, he was forgetting what he had said. How often do we contradict our words by what we do? It’s time to get rid of the inconsistency and tolerance of that which stands opposed to God’s principles.
Second, he needed to remember how it was that he was saved. He knew what Jesus did to restore him. Remember their walk and talk. As they walked down the road Jesus asked, "Do you love me?" I am sure Peter was thing, "Of course I do! Why do you think I feel so bad?" "If I didn’t I would be out partying right now, instead I am grief stricken and sick unto death." Peter answered, "Yes, I love you." How it must have stung when Jesus asked again. The third time Peter must have thought it was too much to bear, Jesus would never believe him. Jesus simply said. "Feed my sheep."
Peter knew it was by grace. After all of his mistakes and screw-ups Jesus still used him in a mighty way. We should know in this room it is by grace. Who would want to save you? Only a loving forgiving and merciful creator would send his son to die for you. You only have to receive the gift. Of course, Peter was a Jew, but he also knew it was by grace he was redeemed.
Finally, Peter needed to act consistently with what he knew to be truth. There is a sign in the office that reads, "Preach the truth; when necessary use words." We come to worship, maybe even bible study on Sunday. How many of us live that life consistent with the word of God? Are we as guilty as Peter?
Believe it or not, your every move is being watched. No, not buy "Big Brother" but by your family, your neighbors, your co-workers. What message do you send when your words and deeds do not match with what they know to be true about Christians? Are you causing them to stumble? Are you their only gospel they will ever see and hear? If so, what are you telling them?
Jesus said,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Invitation
Outline
Avoiding Costly Mistakes - Tolerance 9-24-2006
Acts 15:1-29; Galatians 2:3-11 WGBC
1. The Dictionary
We live in a world that demands tolerance
The same dictionary is needed to communicate
2. The Dispute
The Judaizers were in Antioch
Added to the Gospel the "Law"
Paul\Barnabas said "NO!!!!"
Went to Jerusalem Council
3. The Definition
Peter said "salvation by grace" alone
Judaizers were wrong
Sent letter to "act" like believers
Abstain from sinful behavior
4. The Disappointment - Galatians 2:3-11
Peter fell short again
Acted like a judaizer
5. How to Avoid
Remember God’s word
Remember how you were saved by grace
Act consistently with salvation
