Acts 11:2-3 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
If you are like most human beings, there have been occasions when you have drawn a conclusion based on too little facts. Some of those decisions could not be avoided. But sometimes we jump so fast that we give ourselves a concussion.
We read about police officers having to make these kinds of decisions every day, and occasionally with tragic consequences. Air Traffic Controllers and 911 Operators are also called upon to make difficult decisions with partial knowledge.
But all of life is about partial knowledge. Every day we make decisions without know it “all.” So how much knowledge is enough? At what point do we not make a decision because we need more information?
And needing more information is the history of humanity. Adam and Eve wanted something when they ate that fruit, a particular kind of knowledge. And this quest is baked into our DNA. We are created to learn.
The early church is exploding in growth. Peter has responded to a vision from God and been obedient taking him very far out of his comfort zone. And the LORD has shown up and opened a whole new direction for the Church. The Church is advancing as Jesus has promised.
But not everyone is happy about Peter’s journey into Gentile territory, into a Gentile’s home, into cahoots with a Roman official. “You’ve gone too far!” “You are a radical!” “These things just shouldn’t happen!” You can almost hear the criticisms fly.
We all have boundaries over which we thing no one should cross. Sexual exploitation is always evil, for instance. And our culture shapes where we place the boundaries. Right now all the boundaries are being purposefully thrown to the wind and the forces behind it are not godly.
Those who criticized Peter wanted to protect God’s reputation and community. Their motives were pure, but wrong. They had yesterday’s understanding of God’s work in the world, and ‘today’ had come. And Peter was at the forefront of that change.
As we read the rest of the text, we hear that the criticizers joined Peter’s team. They now understood that the LORD was at work accomplishing His purposes. Nothing would stand in the way of this. And the rest of the Book of Acts tells the story.
And the story continues today. We are called to abandon the old categories that would hinder the spread of the Good News of Jesus. There are no humans that the LORD doesn’t love and with whom He doesn’t desire to commune. He wants ALL to come to a knowledge of Himself. He draws.
And He uses us to do that drawing. His Holy Spirit comes on us and empowers us to reach these ‘others.’ Just as Peter had a choice to respond to the vision, we have the choice to respond to His prompting. Are we going to respond with a big “YES!”? I hope so!
The Arnold Journey 