It is somewhat easy to condemn heresy in a heretic… However, it is drastically more difficult to do so when that heretic is your friend. One can stand in a pulpit pontificating against the evils of our age condemning homosexuality, greed, bigotry, drunkenness, and violence in all its forms. One can sit in a pew and piously pass judgment on the immorality of it all and express their agreement with the pontificator … but if that heretic is someone you know, someone you have a relationship with, someone you love… Scriptures clearly condemns bigotry but when the bigot is your neighbor… Scripture clearly condemns homosexuality but when the homosexual is your coworker or classmate… Scripture clearly condemns sex outside of marriage but when it is your child moving in with their boyfriend or girlfriend… It is one thing to pontificate from a pulpit and pass judgment while seated a pew, but it is an entirely different thing when you must look a person in the eyes to do it.
Three years after Paul had his “come to Jesus” moment, that is when on his way to Damascus he was driven to his knees in the presence of the fully resurrected and glorified Jesus, Paul travels to Jerusalem to, in his words, “get acquainted with Peter”[1]. The acquainting of Peter and Paul lasted all of 15 days. From Paul’s description of the event, we are not filled with warm fuzzies that suggest the two of them suddenly became besties. Indeed, from what we know of their personalities, it seems unlikely Peter and Paul would end up on the same bowling team. I kind of feel like Peter would be too passionate for Paul and Paul would be too intense for Peter.
Whether or not Peter and Paul were besties, the two men do seem to have a good working relationship based on mutual respect. Paul, publicly recognized God “was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews.”[2] And Peter publicly extends to “the right hand of fellowship”[3] to Paul and sent out a letter of endorsement for Paul’s mission work among the Gentiles.[4] Even if these two men were not friends, it seems clear theirs was a friendly relationship. Which is what made the event described in Galatians 2:11-16 so difficult.
The city of Antioch was the site of the first congregation known for its gentile members and was the launching pad for further missionary work among the gentiles. So, it comes as no surprise to us that Peter, a pillar in the early Christian church, would come to visit the mission in Antioch. What is somewhat surprising to us, however, is the way Peter conducted himself while there. In verse 12 we read, “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.” Peter, who had previously supported mission work among the gentiles and had himself spoken out against those who treated the gentiles as inferior Christians, was now doing the very thing he had condemned. By separating himself from the gentiles, Peter was implying those who chose not to follow the old ceremonial laws of the Jews (like circumcision) were “less than” those who did. To make matters worse, when a person like Peter, a pillar in the church, implies such a thing, people tend to follow along and do the same. We are told in this case, “13… even Barnabas was led astray”. Next to Paul, Barnabas was the prominent missionary among the gentiles. To have such a pillar of the church and a prominent missionary proclaim with their mouths “we believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they [the gentiles] are”[5] but then with their actions suggest it was their Jewishness and not Jesus that saved them, well that was at best “13… hypocrisy”, it was at worst heresy. Ultimately, with his actions, Peter was erroneously suggesting man is not justified by faith in Jesus Christ, but by observing the law.
Paul, the great missionary to the gentiles, was, as you might imagine, sensitive to that hypocrisy/heresy. Paul therefore found himself facing the same type of situation you yourself have no doubt faced on countless occasions. His co-worker/friend/associate was embracing a heresy and Paul had to decide whether or not he was going to condemn it or condone it. I imagine the temptation to condone the heresy was strong, as strong for him as it is for you.
Obviously, nobody wants to condone a heresy, but at the same time few are willing to condemn it. Its awkward. Its intimidating. Its unpleasant. There is the risk that the person we are confronting is going to get mad at you, lash out at you, maybe even abandon you and again, and if that person is someone you know, someone you care about, someone you love the cost of condemning a heresy feels too great. So, you try to convince yourself it is better if you say nothing at all. You tell yourself by simply being silent you are not condoning the heresy, but deep down you know better. Deep down you know when it comes to heresy there is no middle ground between condemning and condoning. When it comes to heresy you either condemn it or you condone it.
Paul felt the temptation to condone Peter’s heresy. Thankfully he did not give in to that temptation. In verse 11 Paul writes, “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him”. Knowing how hard it is to do condemn a heresy held by someone we care about, let’s take a closer look at these verses to see what we can learn from Paul that might equip and encourage us to do the same. Now, there are several things we can learn, and you might see something more than I see but, as I see it, in this interaction between Peter and Paul there are three main takeaways.
The first takeaway when condemning a heresy held by someone we care about is - we need to make sure we know what we are talking about. Again, in verse 11 Paul writes, “11 When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.” Also, in verse 14 Paul tells us he decided to confront Peter, “14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel…”. Before you condemn a heresy held by someone you care about, you better make sure it is indeed a heresy that you are condemning and not simply something you don’t like. There can be differences of opinion in a church, and we can passionately disagree with one another about a great many things, but it is only heresy if it does not line up with the clearly stated truths of God’s Word. Now, that means you must actually know what God’s Word says. Don’t just think you know, don’t feel like you know… actually know! Before you confront your neighbor about bigotry, open your bible and learn what God says about bigotry. Before you confront your coworker or classmate about homosexuality, open your bible and learn what God says about homosexuality. Before you confront your family member about adultery, open your bible and learn what God says about adultery. You want to make sure you know what you are talking about because when you condemn a heresy based on the clear truths of God’s Word, you are less likely to get emotionally compromised and far more likely to be listened to because you are not sharing your personal opinion, you are stating God’s universal truth.
Paul made sure he knew what he was talking about before he condemned Peter’s heresy. Another thing Paul did which I think can be our second takeaway is – heresy needs to be condemned face to face. Once again in verse 11 Paul writes, “11 When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face…”. Also, again in verse 14 Paul tells us he said these things “to Peter.” It is far easier to condemn a heresy held by someone we care about when that person holding the heresy isn’t there. We don’t mind talking to other people about the heresy, telling them how upsetting our neighbor’s actions are, how disgusted we are with our coworker’s or classmate’s lifestyle, how disappointed we are with our family member’s choices, we don’t mind saying these things as long as the people we are saying them about aren’t there. But talking about someone’s heresy behind their back has a name. It’s called gossip and it is just as damnable as heresy. Gossiping about a heresy is not condemning a heresy it is creating a new heresy. If you want to condemn a heresy, in a way that might actually lead the heretic to repentance, you need to extend that heretic the courtesy of speaking to them face to face. Let them know you have enough confidence in your convictions and respect for them as a person that you are willing to look them in the eye as you condemn their heresy. When your condemnation of a heresy is spoken to a person’s face instead of whispered behind their back, your condemnation of that heresy has more credibility and is more likely to be taken seriously.
You want your condemnation of a heresy to be taken seriously, even more so when the heresy is held by someone you care about. Which brings us to our third takeaway – We condemn heresy because we care. Paul recognized where Peter’s heresy was leading Peter, Barnabas, and the others. In verse 16 Paul writes, “a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” Heresy, in any and every form, leads people away from faith in Jesus. And that’s a problem because without faith in Jesus there is no justification, which means it is impossible to be saved. Paul wanted Peter, Barnabas, and the others to be saved. So, Paul condemned their heresy. When Paul opposed Peter to his face it was not a power play. Paul was not trying to make Peter look bad, he was not trying to hurt his feelings, and he was not trying to pick a fight. Paul opposed Peter to his face because Paul cared about Peter. Paul wanted Peter to turn away from his heresy; to turn to Jesus the one who justifies and be saved.
You care about your neighbors. You care about your coworkers and classmate. You care about your family. That’s why you are willing to condemn the heresies they hold on to. You know heresies like bigotry, homosexuality, and adultery lead people away from Jesus. You know apart from Jesus there is no salvation. You don’t want the people you care about to be apart from Jesus, rather you want them to turn from their heresy to Jesus the one who justifies and be saved. You condemn the heresies held by your neighbors, coworkers/classmates, and family because you care.
It is easy to pontificate against the world’s evils when standing in a pulpit. It is easy to pass judgement on the immoral when seated in a pew. But God has not gathered us together in this congregation to do that which is easy. God has gathered us together in this congregation to do that which is hard. So let us not merely think we know or feel we know what God says, rather let us open our bibles and study the scriptures so that we actually know what God’s says and are able to discern when someone is not acting in line with the clear truths of the gospel. Then let us have enough conviction in that knowledge and respect for others that we are willing to speak to them face to face even when that conversation is awkward, intimidating, and unpleasant. Let us condemn the heresies held by others especially our neighbors, coworkers/classmates, and family because the last thing we want is for the people we care about to be lead away from Jesus. Let us pray God fills us with courage and then let us encourage one another to say to one another the hard things that need to be said. I will pray it for you. Please pray it for me. Let us pray for one another confident that our God who has called us together in this congregation to do that which is hard will encourage and equip us to say what needs to be said. Amen.
[1] Galatians 1:18
[2] Galatians 2:8
[3]Galatians 2:9
[4] Acts 15
[5] Acts 15:11