One of the central themes – if not THE central theme of Acts - is that God’s salvation is for all people through faith in Jesus crucified and risen. Peter was moved by his vision of the sheet with the animals on it to understand that Jesus had cleansed all people, so he went to Cornelius’ house and shared the Word with them. But God knew that many Jewish believers would struggle with this, so he also gave the special outpouring of the Spirit.
In Chapter 11 we find some of the Jewish believers offended and criticizing Peter. There is a feel of a trial to this scene, and Peter is (dare we say it) in the witness seat testifying regarding what happened. Take note of this: When we are sharing the Good News, what we are really doing is just telling people what God has done. For the most part, we’re not coming up with clever arguments or debating deep theology. That’s not a copout to say that we shouldn’t have clever arguments or debate deep theology. We should be so familiar with the Word that we will be able to share our faith in a variety of ways, but in the end we are gently and humbly saying, “God did this.”
Those who criticized Peter were won over, and they glorified God because he had brought salvation to all people. However, the relationship between Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians will continue to be a point of tension through out the rest of Acts. The question will not be, “Can the non-Jewish people be saved?” That had been answered, and was definitively, “By God’s grace, yes!” The question will be how much these non-Jewish converts had to adopt Jewish customs. We will come back to that topic a different day.
I want to come back to the way Peter and the others resolved their problem in this case, because I believe it says something about leading and following in the church. These members of the circumcision party were perfectly comfortable criticizing Peter. Assuming it was done with respect and not as gossip; that is good. Church leaders need to hear others when they have valid concerns. Peter does not get upset, or talk down to them, he being and Apostle and all! No, he humbly relates why he did what he did. He speaks not of his own leadership, but of God’s leadership. Then the others submitted.
Where is God leading His Church today? Issues like screens, worship styles, facilities, budgets and ministries all fall under His leadership. I believe God gives us a lot of freedom within those areas. Where he does not give us any leeway are the message and the mission. We have no right to change either of these. God is leading His Church today to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen for our salvation, our mission is to bring that message to our personal Jerusalems, Judeas, Samarias, and the ends of the earth. Those issues I mentioned above fall under God’s leadership as we ask, “Does this-or-that help or hinder where God is leading us?” If it helps, we praise God and keep doing it. If it hinders, we remember that we are people who have received forgiveness in Jesus’ name and live in forgiveness together so we try to fix it for the sake of the Gospel, loving our brothers and sisters who may not agree with us.
Father in Heaven, thank you for leading us by Your Holy Spirit. Bless your leaders with a clear sense of where You are leading your church, and help us to follow, being faithful to your message and mission for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
In Chapter 11 we find some of the Jewish believers offended and criticizing Peter. There is a feel of a trial to this scene, and Peter is (dare we say it) in the witness seat testifying regarding what happened. Take note of this: When we are sharing the Good News, what we are really doing is just telling people what God has done. For the most part, we’re not coming up with clever arguments or debating deep theology. That’s not a copout to say that we shouldn’t have clever arguments or debate deep theology. We should be so familiar with the Word that we will be able to share our faith in a variety of ways, but in the end we are gently and humbly saying, “God did this.”
Those who criticized Peter were won over, and they glorified God because he had brought salvation to all people. However, the relationship between Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians will continue to be a point of tension through out the rest of Acts. The question will not be, “Can the non-Jewish people be saved?” That had been answered, and was definitively, “By God’s grace, yes!” The question will be how much these non-Jewish converts had to adopt Jewish customs. We will come back to that topic a different day.
I want to come back to the way Peter and the others resolved their problem in this case, because I believe it says something about leading and following in the church. These members of the circumcision party were perfectly comfortable criticizing Peter. Assuming it was done with respect and not as gossip; that is good. Church leaders need to hear others when they have valid concerns. Peter does not get upset, or talk down to them, he being and Apostle and all! No, he humbly relates why he did what he did. He speaks not of his own leadership, but of God’s leadership. Then the others submitted.
Where is God leading His Church today? Issues like screens, worship styles, facilities, budgets and ministries all fall under His leadership. I believe God gives us a lot of freedom within those areas. Where he does not give us any leeway are the message and the mission. We have no right to change either of these. God is leading His Church today to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen for our salvation, our mission is to bring that message to our personal Jerusalems, Judeas, Samarias, and the ends of the earth. Those issues I mentioned above fall under God’s leadership as we ask, “Does this-or-that help or hinder where God is leading us?” If it helps, we praise God and keep doing it. If it hinders, we remember that we are people who have received forgiveness in Jesus’ name and live in forgiveness together so we try to fix it for the sake of the Gospel, loving our brothers and sisters who may not agree with us.
Father in Heaven, thank you for leading us by Your Holy Spirit. Bless your leaders with a clear sense of where You are leading your church, and help us to follow, being faithful to your message and mission for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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