Don't Be Scared of Them

GracePointe Church of Christ in Elizabethtown, PA

Paul confronts Peter in one of the most famous moments of accountability in the Bible. According to Paul, Peter behaves in a way that displays his cultural imperialism. In his refusal to eat with Gentiles, Peter upholds practices that are designed to protect the Jewish privileged status before God. Peter forgot, in that moment, that God’s plan for the salvation of the world included all people, nations, tribes, and tongues, and Peter was too nearsighted in his application of the gospel as he feared what other Jews might think. When we “draw back and separate ourselves” we are no longer on a Spirit-led mission, but a self focused preservation of our most ungodly traditions to prove our status before God over others.