Sixteen Years?

At the beginning of the letter to the church in Galatia one quickly discovers Paul is upset. “I am shocked,” Paul writes, “that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7). You see, there were those in the church who began preaching a gospel that would be unfamiliar to Christianity, and many were following their lead. Paul wrote this letter in AD 49, only sixteen years after Jesus ascended to heaven. They have lost their way after only sixteen years? And many of them would have known Jesus. Seen Him firsthand perhaps. In 1 Corinthians we read that after the resurrection Jesus, “…was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died” (1 Corinthians 15:6). Corinth and Galatia are less than three hundred miles apart, so it is entirely possible that there were some who were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ teaching and miracles who are now in the church in Galatia. And still, it only took sixteen years to wander away from the truth.

This reveals a couple of things to me. First, the power of persuasive preaching. There are those who will respond to a dramatic style, soaring rhetoric, and emotional delivery. One can get caught up in the moment without even closely examining what is being said. The emotion overtakes you. When someone speaks with authority there is a tendency to accept what they are saying as authoritative as well. These Galatian preachers must have been impressive.

Clearly, the second thing is that when we encounter false teaching or false practice it needs to be addressed. The stakes are too high. I do not want anyone to end up in hell because I kept my mouth shut. Paul goes on to say, “Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed” (Galatians 1:8-9). I certainly do not want my silence to cause someone to be cursed.

What that means, however, is we have to say something, and that is not always easy to do or well received. It was not for Paul, and it still is not today. Sharing biblical truth will not always win us friends. In fact, it is often quite the opposite. Jesus warned us, “…all nations will hate you because you are my followers” (Matthew 10:22). Yeah, sharing the truth does not always make one popular. Paul knew that but he was compelled to speak truth. He knew it would be hard to hear and that people quite likely would be upset. He recognizes this, which is why he says, “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant” (Galatians 1:10).

I know it is difficult in this day and age to stand for biblical truth. It is harder every day to see a sliver of difference between our current culture and Sodom and Gomorrah. If you’re not familiar with that story read Genesis chapters 18 and 19. It’s a tough one. Nonetheless, regardless of what a fallen world full of fallen people is willing to accept, we are different. We are Christ-followers. Our goal is to win the approval of God, not be popular. This will often not please people but that’s okay because we are called to be Christ’s servants.

Keep the faith my friends, and speak the truth in love, always.         

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