Criticism...figures.
Newness is never a good thing...or so it seems. Here we have Peter in the world, preaching the gospel, sharing Jesus with people, and all any of his fellow believers care about is who it is he is sharing with. They do not like it. And we find Peter having to explain himself about why he has done the unthinkable; share Jesus with a non-Jew.
Maybe I am just bitter, but it does seem like new missions, new ministries, and new ideas are often met with resistance. The church seems uncomfortable whenever challenged outside our comfort zone. But in my experience, it is when we get out of our comfort zone that big things happen. Peter preached to Gentiles and actually saw the Holy Spirit fill them. Others went to far places and shared the good news, and it was in Antioch, where Barnabas and Paul spent a year, a church of gentiles, where great numbers believed, that people were first called Christians.
I once had a professor tell me, "Criticism is not a fruit of the Spirit." I think that is true. I think it actually quenches the Spirit. But I am also glad that in this case, the skeptical leaders where actually willing to sit and listen to Peter and discover his motives and calling (eventually). I hope I will be open minded about the different ways God calls and uses people in ministry. And when I am skeptical, I hope my first inclination will be to listen to other Christians about the new thing they are doing, not blindly criticising.
The message that I got from this chapter is..."who am I to question God?" When Peter said he would never eat anything unpure, he was told "If God says it's clean, you shall not call it unclean". An then when talking about the Gentiles that were given the Holy Spirit...Peter said, "So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?"
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy to ignore what God wants me to do, especially since some of the things he wants are not easy. But guess I need to remember...who am I to oppose or question God? Do I know more than him..I don't think so!