Bold
Read Galatians 2:11-16.
I don't know that anyone ever accused Paul of backing down. In this brief snippet from his own writing, the letter to the Galatians, he recounts a time he took Peter on, face to face. You remember Peter, right? Main apostle. Best friend to Jesus. Leader of the early church. Soon to become the first Bishop of Rome. That Peter. The one who knew Jesus perhaps better than anyone else. Paul took him on because of a weakness he saw in this big, burly fisherman. That's bold. That takes guts.
But it takes boldness to follow Jesus and to be faithful to what you know is true. Boldness Paul had in spades. So when Peter backed away from eating with and hanging out with Gentiles because he was afraid of what some others in the church might think, Paul confronted him. Paul reminded him that God had broken down the barrier between Jew and Gentile. Peter himself had realized this and experienced it in Acts 10. But, in the moment, he didn't want to have to explain himself to James (the half-brother of Jesus, leader of the church in Jerusalem, whose representatives the visitors were), and so he backed away. Changed course. No one will notice. Except Paul did, and Paul called Peter back to faithfulness, to boldness.
It's easy to become Peter. There have been a few times when I've been preaching and had planned to say a very bold thing—then I look out in the congregation and see THAT PERSON, the one who you know will make a stink, the one who will be the first one to send you a nasty email or make a phone call to the District Superintendent. And so I back down. I modify or just don't say what I had planned to say. It's not worth the fight, I reason, because I remember the times I DID say THAT THING and the way I was treated after. (I hope I'm not the only one who does such things!) Or you see someone hurting themselves in some sort of sin and you work up your courage to say something to them—then when you're actually with them, the courage melts away and you end up talking about the weather. (Then you spend the evening mentally beating yourself up because you didn't say something.)
And so I pray for the boldness of Paul. I don't get the sense Paul did this in an obnoxious way; Christians today sometimes cross the line between boldness and obnoxiousness, but we must not. Speak the truth in love; always lead with love. And be bold. The kingdom of Jesus, which includes all, demands nothing less.
I don't know that anyone ever accused Paul of backing down. In this brief snippet from his own writing, the letter to the Galatians, he recounts a time he took Peter on, face to face. You remember Peter, right? Main apostle. Best friend to Jesus. Leader of the early church. Soon to become the first Bishop of Rome. That Peter. The one who knew Jesus perhaps better than anyone else. Paul took him on because of a weakness he saw in this big, burly fisherman. That's bold. That takes guts.
But it takes boldness to follow Jesus and to be faithful to what you know is true. Boldness Paul had in spades. So when Peter backed away from eating with and hanging out with Gentiles because he was afraid of what some others in the church might think, Paul confronted him. Paul reminded him that God had broken down the barrier between Jew and Gentile. Peter himself had realized this and experienced it in Acts 10. But, in the moment, he didn't want to have to explain himself to James (the half-brother of Jesus, leader of the church in Jerusalem, whose representatives the visitors were), and so he backed away. Changed course. No one will notice. Except Paul did, and Paul called Peter back to faithfulness, to boldness.
It's easy to become Peter. There have been a few times when I've been preaching and had planned to say a very bold thing—then I look out in the congregation and see THAT PERSON, the one who you know will make a stink, the one who will be the first one to send you a nasty email or make a phone call to the District Superintendent. And so I back down. I modify or just don't say what I had planned to say. It's not worth the fight, I reason, because I remember the times I DID say THAT THING and the way I was treated after. (I hope I'm not the only one who does such things!) Or you see someone hurting themselves in some sort of sin and you work up your courage to say something to them—then when you're actually with them, the courage melts away and you end up talking about the weather. (Then you spend the evening mentally beating yourself up because you didn't say something.)
And so I pray for the boldness of Paul. I don't get the sense Paul did this in an obnoxious way; Christians today sometimes cross the line between boldness and obnoxiousness, but we must not. Speak the truth in love; always lead with love. And be bold. The kingdom of Jesus, which includes all, demands nothing less.
I understand completely. The post I just wrote actually was the boldest I've ever been I calling out how my grief was treated as not important by Matt's family. I, of course, don't name names, but it's pretty obvious. I've always shied away from mentioning it in writing but I felt God telling me I wasn't being what He called me to be. I was still living in the bondage of their abuse rather than the freedom He gives. I did feel better after doing it. Be bold, Dennis!
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