But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
So much of Paul’s ministry is calling out those in the church to live out the gospel. Please don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can hide in your own bubble by rarely attending church services and you can then choose to live however you please. Equally dangerous is thinking how fellow church members live their lives is none of your business, may it never be! We are obliged to confront sin within our church. This is not a blog post, it is a direct confrontation for the gospel. This is not ego driven, it is for the good news of Jesus Christ to not be held back. How much Paul loved Peter to confront him! Peter was THE Apostle (with a capital “A”), and Paul was the one who needed to prove himself, yet the gospel was worth more than Paul’s reputation, and Peter WAS the pillar of the church and received Paul’s rebuke with humility and grace. What an example of how we do not seek or expect even the greatest church leaders to be perfect. We must always be learning, growing, and leading.
