Galatians 2.12-14
“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?”
It is a law of leadership and culture: If you permit it, you promote it.
Peter knew full well that the gospel did not require Gentiles to follow the Law and be circumcised. He knew that the gospel united Jew and Gentile in Christ. He had received a vision from the Lord Jesus directing him to fully embrace Gentile believers. Yet here in Antioch he had “separated himself, fearing the circumcision party”. His actions negatively influenced other Jewish believers: “And with him the rest of the Jews acted insincerely, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their insincerity”.
Peter’s behavior was a failure to live in line with the truth of the gospel. Peter’s behavior was contradictory, inconsistent with the gospel, and hypocritical. It was theologically wrong and dangerous. Peter verbally affirmed the true gospel, but his behavior demonstrated a different gospel, a gospel that mixed conversion to Christ with conversion to nationalistic Judaism. The same Peter who had denied his Lord for fear of a maidservant now denied him again for fear of the circumcision party. He still believed the gospel, but he failed to practice it.
That is why Paul confronted Peter.
Even Barnabas, who had stood firm with Paul at the meeting in Jerusalem, was influenced by the hypocrisy of the Judaizers. Thankfully, Paul acted with courage, publicly confronted Peter, and stood firm against the Judaizers. Paul preserved the truth of the gospel and the multi-national fellowship of the church.
By his behavior Peter was (through weakness) shifting the gospel from “salvation for all without social restrictions” to “salvation for Jews alone and those who convert to Judaism”. Peter was participating in the old social barriers. Paul confronts Peter with this: “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?”
Peter had previously enjoyed unrestricted social fellowship with the Gentiles, speaking their language, eating their food, drinking their wine, embracing their children, and sitting in their homes. When the Judaizers arrived, Peter reversed his behavior and withdrew from the Gentiles. But, in addition, he then began to force Gentile Christians to be circumcised (and to follow Jewish social laws), apparently in an attempt to avoid the threat of criticism from the Jewish nationalists. Peter, in effect, was denying the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ by demanding that the converts at Galatia become Jews.
This was a failure of leadership on the part of Peter. It was effective and courageous leadership on the part of Paul. Accountability is essential to effective leadership, and it is essential to the church. We must challenge behavior that is out of alignment with the standards of the faith. This is precisely what Paul did.
*Note: The principle of leadership and accountability is central to every organization, business, and team. If you are a leader, you must be exceptionally clear about the standards of your culture; you must set a personal example by making sure your behavior is in alignment with those standards; and you must be consistent in holding people accountable to the standards of the culture.
Again, it is a law of leadership and culture: If you permit it, you promote it.
