Meeting of Minds

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Opening Prayer

Author of Grace, speak through Your Word today, and through the Spirit’s interpretation, may I find direction and strength.

Read Galatians 2:1-10

^[1] Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. ^[2] I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. ^[3] Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. ^[4] This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. ^[5] We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. ^[6] As for those who were held in high esteem-whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism-they added nothing to my message. ^[7] On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. ^[8] For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. ^[9] James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. ^[10] All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.

Meditate

Where is God when Christians talk about difficult and divisive issues—only in the final decision, or also in the way we get there?

Think Further

It’s not clear whether this meeting in Jerusalem was the gathering described in Acts 15. It might have been part of an earlier visit by Paul and Barnabas to the city, mentioned briefly in Acts 11:29,30 and 12:25. Either way, it was not an easy conversation. Some people present thought that Gentile Christian converts should conform. Gentiles were a minority in a Jewish church; a long tradition insisted that the men among them be circumcised (Acts 15:1), but Paul calls this viewpoint a false kind of faith, an undermining of proper Christian freedom (4). He was sure that Gentiles could bring their own ethnic identity into the church. They could belong to Christ as Gentiles, without taking on the formal observances of Judaism. He believed in a multiracial, multicultural church.

Paul’s view prevailed. The “pillars” of the church “recognized the grace” that God had given him and sent him back to his mission with their support (9). This decision surely gave Paul fresh confidence in his work, so it would disturb him greatly when he learned later that, in some people’s minds, the issue was not fully sorted. Today, too, conversations can be bumpy and hesitant, when churches broker between “the way we do it now” and “the people we want to reach.”

Paul’s experience of Jesus had given him a powerful impetus to preach, but as he reached Gentiles with the Good News he wanted to gain the support of the church’s central leadership. Jerusalem had been the birthplace of the faith. Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost happened there. It was still a kind of head office. Jesus’ brother James and two of his closest disciples, Peter and John, were the “pillars” of the fellowship (9). They were people of influence, and Paul wanted them to endorse his work.
It’s not clear whether this meeting in Jerusalem was the gathering described in Acts 15. It might have been part of an earlier visit by Paul and Barnabas to the city, mentioned briefly in Acts 11:29,30 and 12:25. Either way, it was not an easy conversation. Some people present thought that Gentile Christian converts should conform. Gentiles were a minority in a Jewish church; a long tradition insisted that the men among them be circumcised (Acts 15:1), but Paul calls this viewpoint a false kind of faith, an undermining of proper Christian freedom (4). He was sure that Gentiles could bring their own ethnic identity into the church. They could belong to Christ as Gentiles, without taking on the formal observances of Judaism. He believed in a multiracial, multicultural church.
Paul’s view prevailed. The “pillars” of the church “recognized the grace” that God had given him and sent him back to his mission with their support (9). This decision surely gave Paul fresh confidence in his work, so it would disturb him greatly when he learned later that, in some people’s minds, the issue was not fully sorted. Today, too, conversations can be bumpy and hesitant, when churches broker between “the way we do it now” and “the people we want to reach.”

Apply

“Remember the poor” (10). How prominent is this concern in your church? How does this bring you into fellowship with Christians of other traditions?

Closing prayer

Lord, I praise You that there are no “add-ons” to the true Gospel. It is through Christ and Christ alone. Thanks be to God.

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