Click here to watch my video reflection on our text for today, or keep reading for my written reflections: 

Today’s reading is from Galatians 2: 11-14: 

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; 12 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. 13 And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not acting consistently 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 compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Today in our reading, we see the fight that has been brewing ever since this letter started.  Paul has spent time defending his apostleship, confirming that the Gospel he preached is the same one that the other apostles preached.  He wants you to know and to understand that in the same way you took Peter and James and John seriously, you should take him seriously.  

Why? Because today he is going to confront Peter. 

Everything about the Jewish culture came down to food. It would have been impossible for Jews and Gentiles to eat together.  So many of the Levitical laws came down to food.  In Antioch, all the believers, Jews, and Gentiles were eating together.  Until some came and stirred up dissension and had the Jews come to believe that they could not eat with the Gentile believers because they were not following the Law.  Peter and even Barnabas fall victim to this. 

After it was established in yesterday’s reading that none of that was required.  

So, Paul confronts Peter. He calls him out.  Just as yesterday Paul desired accountability, now he is giving accountability to Peter.  He spoke the truth in love to Peter. And it stuck. 

I think this is important for us to know.  Yes, at times, we need to speak the truth in love to people. We need to call out wrongdoing and sin. But, here’s the thing.  It is speaking the truth in love.  Paul had done the relational work with Peter, they knew and respected each other, as we see in Peter’s later writings.  

Paul has a relationship with Peter so that when he did this, Peter heard it. 

Our culture is quick to call folks out. But we are slow to do the relational work that allows this to be effective.  As I heard Tim Keller say once, I don’t want to just proclaim truth, I want to persuade people to follow truth.  Paul had the relationships that made this all possible.  

May we speak truth.  May we speak love. Because it is the love that makes it possible for the truth to be heard.  

Tomorrow we’ll look at Galatians 2: 15-21.  

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