Political Correctness
Galatians 2:11-13 But when Cephas (that’s Peter’s other name) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
We think of Peter as one of the New Testament’s A-List. Yet, he made quite a few mistakes along the way. Not the least of which was political correctness.
This age of rampant political correctness isn’t some new 21st Century phenomenon. It turns out that there’s nothing new under the sun.
Now look, it’s absolutely a good idea that we shouldn’t deliberately go out there to say or do things that will hurt others. But it’s a very bad idea to take that to the ridiculous nth degree. To the point where we curtail our freedoms, in order to appease those with an agenda.
And that’s exactly what was going on in the 1st century as Christianity was being birthed out of Judaism. There was a tussle between the two. There were difficult issues to work through.
For instance, most Jews believed that the God of the Old Testament was for them and them alone. Many of the Apostles stayed in Jerusalem for that very reason.
But Paul was called to be an Apostle to the Gentiles; to take the good news of salvation in Jesus to people, whom the Jews referred to, as ‘dogs’.
So, Peter is happy to dine with the Gentiles, until some other, legalistic, old school Jews show up, at which point he does the politically correct thing, retreating only to eat with Jews again.
Well, at this point, Paul pretty much has a pink fit!
Galatians 2:11-13 But when Cephas (that’s Peter’s other name) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
To the extent that you believe in Jesus, you are free in Christ, to live out your faith. Sure, in this age of political correctness, in this age of pluralism, you’ll be derided for it. You’ll be laughed at for it. You’ll even be persecuted for it.
But let Peter’s mistake be a lesson to us all. Let’s not be hypocrites. Let’s not compromise our freedom in Christ, to appease the sinners of this world.
Sure, the issues today are different, but the principle remains the same. People will disagree with you because you believe in Jesus. They just will. There’s nothing new in that.
Live out your faith in Jesus anyhow. Don’t let the fear of what others will think or say or do, rob you of the freedom you have in Christ.
Don’t let your life compromise the truth of the Gospel of grace.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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