Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. Galatians 2:1-10
St. Paul is a grown-up. We need more grown-ups. We need parents who are grown-ups in their homes and not mere buddies to their children. We need grown-ups serving as teachers who realize the education of children requires mature models of wisdom, learning, and conduct standing before them. We need grown-ups in government, not just people tinkering with their own glorified Junior Achievement projects.
But we especially need grown-ups in the church, both clergy and laity who are spiritually mature, theologically grounded in the apostolic doctrine, and who are genuine and eager in love for people. That kind of maturity can only come under the cross.
Being a grown-up requires humility. There must be among us the profound sense that no matter how much we learn, accomplish, or oversee, one is never greater than the Gospel of Christ. Only the living Word of God gives us footing. Surely God has sacrificed to bring us to the Kingdom of heaven. Jesus gave his blood, sweat, tears, and life so that we would have fellowship with God and with one another, but the Kingdom does not need anything we bring. A grown-up knows this. Paul was called by God to be an apostle in the Kingdom of Christ, but even he was not indispensable. And he knew it.
I understand I may sound contradictory is asserting the need of the church for grown-ups while in the same breath saying the Kingdom needs none of us. This is really not incongruous.
There is but one need –-- the need for Christ, the need for His mercy and merit, the need of a Savior. One who benefits from the Gift of Christ has every other necessity filled. Jesus is God, and when He was given to the world, all “need” disappeared from our vocabulary, for “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32)
Here then is a definition of a grown-up (which has no reference to age, intellect, or experience). A Christian grown-up is the person who relies on Christ alone. Only in this sense does the church needs grown-ups. The church needs to be what she can only be --- unconditionally reliant on the Gospel of Christ. We are not secure or important because of anything we contribute. That’s just the point. The grown-up is the Christian going exactly the opposite way from some upwardly mobile management track or with attention to success.
Unlike the world --- and I must say, much of the church today --- Christian maturity isn't based upon one’s skill set, effectiveness, or how much one can bring in or do for the kingdom. It disclaims anything but the Gospel.
If Paul had thought he was crucial to the success of the church or indispensable to the church’s future, he would have relied on self-promotion, party support, or even pressure to prove himself paramount. But Paul’s only credential was the Gospel he proclaimed. Paul didn’t care a fig for the “influential” leading figures or the powerful. Not for one minute did he yield to the possibility that freedom in Christ needs to be protected or supplemented.
In Paul’s day there was a party of Judaizers who were ready to use what they believed to be any sophisticated strategy to show themselves wiser, smarter, more devoted, and more virtuous than Paul. Of course, as soon as you have to prove yourself a grown-up, you ain’t one.
But, hey, they looked good. They were all for Christianity moving the cause of God forward. They were all for correctness in the practice of this new faith. They called themselves Christians. They were zealous. They had status. They seemed influential. They honestly regarded themselves mature, seasoned, fit believers.
So, what was the problem? Because it wasn't just a little misunderstanding they had with Paul.
The sine qua non for the Judaizers, the indispensable, essential thing for them was a belief that the Gospel needs help. Paul’s “freedom” was all well and good, but it had to be protected and backed up by deeds of the Law. Jesus may have died for all, but all those for whom he died must now qualify for the benefit through legal circumcision.
It was a classic shake-down. And Paul would have none of it! Not one minuscule scrap of it. And not for one second!
Oh, those guys were slick. They had their style, their devices, their arguments, organization and expertise. Their proficiency was good, their sincerity genuine. And unless there had been a grown-up like Paul holding up the Gospel and its freedom from any contaminate, they would have steam-rolled the Christian faith.
Today, the Christian church is facing a masterful shake-down. Under the guise of employing Jesus’ name liberally and protesting how everything is for him and for his glory, the worms of legalism or protectionism continue to insinuate themselves into the church. In other words, it’s not enough to rely on the preaching of Christ crucified alone. That’s all great, but the message needs more polish. It needs to be packaged for more appeal. It can't hold its own without some modernization. The message of the Gospel needs help.
The means of grace are great as long as you remember the rules: not too much, not too long, not too deep, not too conservative, not too serious, not too traditional, not too absolute, and certainly not too Lutheran.
Commitment to apostolic doctrine, the Lutheran confessions, and historic practice are all fine and commendable, but they need the “protection” of contemporary thinking, trendy peripherals, and popular methods.
And this shake-down is being done, as it was with the Judaizers, in the name of God and supposedly for the interests and betterment of the people of God.
And Paul declares point blank, it “added nothing to me.” “We did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.”
Paul was entrusted with the Gospel as were Peter, John, and James. Those guys were grown-ups. They knew the Treasure they were proclaiming. They embraced each other in the fellowship of the faith, stood their ground on the truth of the Gospel –-- and refused to be shaken down.
Take heart, Christians. The Gospel will not be squeezed. On the strength of Word and Sacrament alone we can stand against the flimflam.
