Out of Order!

Galatians 2: 11

When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.

 

It seems that no matter where we look now days, we see conflict abound everywhere.

We see it in the work place—we see it in marriages—and we often see it in the church, as much as we would not want to admit it.

 

Peter had changed his position, and quite frankly, the Apostle Paul called him out on it.

How could Paul do that, to the one person Christ was going to use to establish the church?

 

Did you know that Paul was following the pattern that Jesus put in order, regarding conflict?

We think that we should all just get along and sit around and sing Kumbaya in the church.

That would be nice, but once in a while, things need to be set straight in the church—especially when someone or something is out of order.

 

People are afraid of conflict for the most part.

No one wants to ruffle any feathers, and so the person out of order, is often left unchecked.

That’s a dangerous place to be, especially when it happens in the church.

 

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 18—that when a person is out of order—you go to that person—and you correct him/her.

That’s what Paul was doing here to Peter….and once in a while, a rebuke needs to come to the darlings of the church.

 

I personally believe, that the church would be a whole lot healthier, if we made corrections, right when they needed to happen.

People leave churches over conflict—and people even build new churches over conflict.

That sure sounds to me, like a big waste of time. Maybe if the record was set straight right on the spot—we’d actually see more growth in the church…..