The Risk of Running in Vain: Galatians 2:1-10

At the beginning of chapter two, we see the continuation of Paul's history. Except there is a 14-year gap. Paul had been ministering in Syria and Cilicia and doesn't really record much about it here except that he didn't go back to Jerusalem during that time. So he finally makes his way to Jerusalem because of a revelation that he had--in order to weigh it against the counsil of a few influentials to insure that he was not wandering into LaLa Land.

And that's where we pick up:

[Gal 2:1-5 ESV]

[1] Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. [2] 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. [3] But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. [4] 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-- [5] to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

(Read the rest of this passage here, because once again, I don't want to bog the blog.)

You know, Paul is a pretty smart cookie. He receives this revelation and instead of immediately proclaiming it to He Who Hath Ears, he decides to weigh it against godly counsil. I think a pit fall of many preachers is that sometimes the first time they audibly hear something "from God" is when it's coming out of their mouth when they're standing in the pulpit. Now, I'm not above thinking that God can cause spiritual epiphanies, because I know that he does that. But the majority of the time those epiphanies need to be studied out and weighed against the Word of God and spiritual authority. They need to be thought over and prayed over and considered very carefully before they are preached as "gospel."

But Paul's not like that. He knows better than that. So, he takes this revelation to the Headquarters of the First Church, Jerusalem. There, he meets privately with a few influential people, explaining this revelation (which was the proclaiming of the Gospel to Gentiles). Paul was geniunely desiring to do the work of God and he just checking himself to make sure that he was not "running in vain." How great would the impact have been if he had just ran a marathon in the wrong direction? How much damage would have been done to the Church? How often does that happen today? (Wow, let's insert Altar Call here.)

So the influential people heard Paul out. But, there were some others who had slipped their way in. Their sole purpose was "to spy out [the] freedom that we have in Christ." And they were doing this so that they could attempt to bring Paul back into slavery--or the law that the Jewish Christians were still following.

Paul is borderline superhero. He immediately sniffs these people out and realizes their, shall I say, demonic intent and does not yeild in submission to them AT ALL. Why? Because he wanted to make sure that the Gospel was being preserved in it's purest form. He wanted an untainted Gospel to spread around the world.

I won't lie. I was going to use verses 4 and 5 as the bulk of this blog because, I'll be honest, I love to rip on those who try to distort the Gospel by mandating unnecessary submission to laws from which Jesus brought us freedom. But something else completely grabbed my attention while I was studying this passage--and I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to rip on those Accursed People (Paul's words, not mine) later.

Do you see how important the aspect of good Christian counsil is to Paul? He weighs the validity of his revelation on the examination and opinion of a few influential men. He trusts them with task of confirming this sacred conversation between him and God.

Luckily, as we read through the rest of this passage to verse 10, we see that these influential men (and James, Cephas and John) saw the sincerity of Paul and his adherence to the Gospel of Christ and the fact that he had been entrusted with the Gospel for the Gentiles--and they accepted him. They extended the right hand of fellowship to him. They granted him the power to preach his revelation--this Gospel of Christ, to the Gentiles and to the poor.

We could all learn from the wisdom of Paul. We could all benefit from having someone (or multiple someones) in our life who are a spiritual sounding board for our "divine" epiphanies. I am very lucky to have multiple people in my life like this. My mentor has always been willing to give me a reality check when I come up with some crazy, earth-shattering revelation (not that I'm a crazy person, I just have a wild imagination, ok?!). He is also there to encourage me when I have a thought that is worth something. He provokes study and thought, causing my ideas to grow and develop far past anything they would have blossomed into without proper care. I have friends and peers who walk largely down the same spiritual path as me and we are constantly bouncing ideas and thoughts off of each other. We are each other's worst critics and each others biggest fans. I am so thankful to have people that I can trust with the voice of my innermost being.

Now, I must continually strive to keep these checks and balances in place. It is very easy for me to hear something from God and immediately want to act on it. But I would rather map my course out before I run too far in vain.

So what about you? Have you ever caught yourself running with an idea only to realize that you were running in vain? Do you have people in your life that you can trust with the ideas that no one else will ever hear? Are you that person to someone else, if so, how do you handle that responsibility?

Just trying to get it right,

Hermeneutical Dan