Stay On Mission – 25th September 2018

3. Don’t step backwards!
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:19-21
One of the things that I find so interesting about the Bible is how openly it tells the story of the failings of the people that God used in remarkable ways.
There is probably no better example of this than Peter of whom Jesus said ‘And on this rock I will build my church’. Peter, a close disciple and apostle who walked with Jesus throughout His ministry and then, having been sent to make disciples among ‘all nations’ later had an encounter with God on The Rooftop (Acts 10) that helped the early church to see that the gospel was for all including the gentiles. This remarkable pioneer of the early church didn’t always make progress! Sometimes he went backwards even more rapidly than he went forwards. Look at what Paul says about Peter just a few verses earlier in chapter 2 of Galatians:
‘For before certain men came from James, he (Peter) used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group’. Galatians 2:12
Peter, the remarkable pioneer was now becoming a hindrance to the spread of the gospel! This ‘step backwards’ was as a result of something that seems to have been a constant problem for Peter, as Paul wrote: ‘he (Peter) began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group’
His fear was such that in spite of all that he knew of God and all of the remarkable things he had experienced, he stopped making progress and reverted back to a place where he would not have to live ‘in fear’ of people.
I think that all of us are very much like Peter! We so easily compromise on what we firmly believe the Lord wants us to do. We do this because we are afraid of what others will think of us if we continue to do what God wants! We step back to a place where we feel more comfortable and settle for, if I can dare say it ‘an easier life’. This does not only impact us, but as we all step back, it makes the ‘comfortable place’ the norm and others feel afraid to step outside of it.
This stepping back means that we are less effective in joining Jesus in His Mission.
It is because of his dedication to the mission of Jesus that Paul writes so passionately about the peril of conforming to an understanding of the gospel that replaces the grace of God with human effort and conforming to the expectations of others. That is why he writes:
‘The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me’.
Put simply, it is ALL about Jesus!
This week, take some time to reflect upon your walk with Jesus. Have you ‘stepped back’ because of fear of what others may think? If you have then ask the Lord to do a work in your heart and renew your passion for Jesus.