Tuesday 21 August 2012

Background 

This part of Paul's letter to the Galatians describes some ofhis encounters with some of the other disciples in the early partof his ministry. He describes meeting Cephas (Peter), James,Barnabas and Titus.

Imagine being the new bloke on the scene and going off to spendtime with those 'Christian heavyweights' of their day. Give creditto the man, Paul did it! And give credit to Peter and James,despite all the hurt and pain Paul had caused as Saul, "theyglorified God" (1:24) because Paul was there with them.

The language used in Galatians 2:5 is interesting, because it'sall about "we" - "We did not submit to them even for a moment".This little group of disciples as a collective, as a community, didnot give in and so preserved the gospel for us!

This is why the early Church flourished, because this is idea ofcollective and community was what the church of Acts was all about:"All who believed were together and had all things in common" (Acts2:44).

There is power in community, and Paul was using that power todefend the gospel, and preserve it for the generations that were tocome, generations like us!

Paul's passion for sharing the gospel is clear. We all havethings that God has placed on our hearts for us to be passionateabout. For some it might be one particular thing, for some it mightbe a mix. But it's important that we all find what it is we'repassionate about.

To ponder:

• What is it that you're passionate about?

• Just as Paul fought to preserve the gospel, what is it you'refighting for? Why are you fighting for it?