The early church struggled with whether a person had to become a Jew first to be a Christian. In this chapter we capture a glimpse of this struggle. Paul felt he was called to preach to the Gentiles. He was part of the leadership that understood that a person did not have to become a Jew first. Yet, there was strong push back on this decision. The push back was strong enough that it influenced Peter. Thus Paul speaks of his confrontation with Peter over his wavering on this issue.
This issue has not been an issue in the church for a very long time. However, the struggle to remain strong in your belief when others are pushing back on you is a current day issue. It is difficult to stand firm in what you believe when others are pushing on you.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In some ways, it seems to be quite an issue today to stand strong in our beliefs - at least on the internet! I get so many "slanderous"-type emails from "good friends" who are doing everything to tear down our country by passing around stories that are not true - about who said or wrote or did whatever! The sad thing is that they don't seem to realize how they are hurting things rather than helping as other religions and countries look at us. I pray for strength and wisdom to know what to say and how to respond!
ReplyDelete