Paul continued to recount to the Galatians his personal journey to serve God minister to the Gentile world. He discussed meeting with Peter, James, and John. God chose Peter to be the primary evangelist of the Jewish world. Peter, the man Jesus personally asked to feed His sheep. After spending time with Peter, James and John all agreed that God had given the same charge to Paul, only Paul’s mission field was to the Gentile world. It became obvious to all that the missions were equally important but totally different. So these men agreed that Paul should do what he had been doing with the blessing of the rest of the Church leaders. Paul did not have the same mission and needed not to try to conform his mission to look like Peter’s. The Gentile people need not become Jewish–they simply needed to come into relationship with God through Christ!
As God’s chosen, we are all called to follow Him. But the journey for each of us is greatly different. The combination of life circumstance, spiritual gifting, and maturity in our walks leads us to different ministries and ministry styles. In that, we can no more judge other’s missions than could the apostles could in the early church. The message remains clear–God loves us! He wants to be in a relationship with us. Our sin prevents that. Christ’s death and resurrection made possible the opportunity to be in a relationship again with God. We simply must trust and follow Christ. We do so by asking him to forgive us and come into our lives. If we do–He will! Then it is His job to transform us.
That is the message. How we deliver it, and to whom we deliver it–is completely a function of trusting God and not being ashamed of this gospel. He will lead, guide and direct us to opportunities to minister; we simply need to remain faithful in that charge! Thanks, Lord for allowing us the opportunity to minister in the manner best suited to us and to those you choose for us to encounter!
God Bless You
Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they made no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. 7 On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised,[a] just as Peter had been to the circumcised.[b] 8 For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles.9 James, Cephas[c] and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and them to the circumcised. 10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.
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