Displacement

 "When Peter came, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned". Galatians 2:31.

"At my first defence, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me". 2 Timothy 4:16.

Ever found yourself having to stand your ground when what's going on around you wants to do nothing else except silence you?

Back in the 1990s, I helped play a small part in a regular outreach to people at Speakers Corner in London, which quite often meant seeking to talk to some of the more colourful characters of the city. What was fascinating was to see just how often those who had very little in common because of their particular views or beliefs would unite together in one respect - to seek to scorn and silence those of us there to speak about the person and authority of Jesus Christ.

Thirty years on, and looking at the You Tube material of the same spot in recent times, nothing has changed, except that more licence is given to those who are doing the denouncing now than those who are seeking to proclaim.

What's troubling, of course, is that isn't just the case in that location.

We've heard this past week how a law is coming that will mean that if you're standing on a street corner and what you're doing is defined as a 'noisy' protest (so, preaching the good news), you can be shut down without any recourse.

Prison may soon await those who openly proclaim Jesus.

In a week where we've seen Canadian minister James Coates finally released from prison purely because he sought to choose to keep his church open as usual, you really have to ask yourself how long will it be before Christianity is not only hated by our society, but actively hunted, as in Roman times, as the marked enemy of what's defined as 'good'.

Wolves from outside, then, but what about that other danger - the wolves from within?

The various sexual atrocity cases that have come to light of late have certainly struck at the dead wood of what's rotten amongst various Christian ministries and communities, speaking clearly of what happens when men look elsewhere than Christ for the source and scope of their centre - pretensions and crimes flourish, but we would be wrong to believe that such wickedness is the only manner of evil nesting among us.

The situation Paul refers to in Antioch (and later Galatia), as well as his later speaking alone for his faith in Rome says volumes about the apparent 'spirituality' of the church of the day. Just reflect upon what unfolds.

The Apostle Peter found he could, at least in measure, get along with everyone in Antioch, whatever their background, until an "authority" became present amongst believers that said he must act with partiality, distancing himself from some who were 'not of' the elite - those distinguished by a particular 'mark' of acceptance.

Those, in other words, who sought to keep to a particular 'law' as their mark of righteousness.

That should really make us shudder.

It isn't as though God hadn't already taken Peter through a learning curve.

Recall for a moment the lengths God Himself had already gone to to show him just how heinous that whole line of thinking was. Peter had some real baggage he was carrying about how God couldn't possibly look beyond His chosen people in respect to the message of salvation.

God shatters Peter's prejudice with a totally overwhelming vision on a roof top and the very clear exhortation, 'who are you to say something that I have declared clean is unclean?' (Acts 10:15). God rattles Peter's mistaken presumptions so much that when Cornelius arrives, he is ready and able to go with him to open the gates of salvation to the gentiles.

This is the pivotal moment, that would lead to the Jerusalem church turning its attention to the outside world (Acts 11)... and spawn those who would work against what God had decreed (Galatians 2:12).

But what if Peter hadn't listened? 

What if he'd refused to hear what God was saying concerning the far greater work that had to be done beyond Jerusalem and Judea?

What if he had, in effect, taken the line of those who would later seek to infect the faith with the lie that only those who conformed to what 'law' was deemed to require, could genuinely be part of God's flock?

The answer is that the health and life of the church shuts down.

The actual requirements of the Lord would have been forsaken.

That's the crux of the problem in both Antioch and Galatia.

Men who believe themselves above and beyond the vital and clear commands and requirements of God, especially in respect to the Gospel, by placing some other measure in the way, take the reins in respect to how and when things should be done, investing in themselves an authority detached from what's clearly expressed in scripture alone, and from that point on, they establish another Jesus, another "gospel", an altogether different kind of church.

Outwardly, some things may still look pretty much the same - many of the faces will not have changed and, oh, yes, there's even a Peter or two present to show that the thing has the mechanics of calling itself authorised, but the carnage has torn the body of Christ asunder, and woe betide us at that point if we are unwilling to hear the justified thunder of Paul's righteous accusations against us, leading to our full repentance of such a miserable compromise.

One final comment about this situation. Notice how the error appears to make so much sense, that when it's encountered, it even draws Paul's support to align with it (Galatians 2:13). So often, we're drawn by what seems right rather than what is right.

Which brings us to now - the reality of 2021.

Time for some honesty, painful as it may be.

Most churches in the last year broke with God when they closed their doors, ceasing the assembly together of the saints not only to hear the Word, but also to participate in the supper and to worship in the assembly sharing in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

That, in and of itself, should cause some serious reflection.

These key activities make up what the Reformers, and the Fathers before them, defined as the regulative principles of worship for God's people - in essence, the 'glue' that God uses to join us together in the faith.

The church of 2020 became that company who believed, in respect to practice at least, that they could 'distance' (cease or virtually replace) themselves from the very requirements commanded by God.

Now recall what Paul tells us had happened at Antioch and again at Galatia.

According to those peddling falsehood, you could be church, not by gathering together solely in your shared faith in Christ and His saving work, but because you deemed certain practices and behaviours as 'whole' and correct - lawful, putting aside those practices and members who no longer matched up to such criteria - those who, in our present case, asked why we believed we were right to stop what scripture said was required.

It's easy to miss the mark here - it isn't a handful of 'mavericks' that are bringing such questions... It's the Apostle Himself.

By what right, Paul is asking, have you done these things?

The reply, no doubt, at present would be that the law of the land (emergency powers) demanded it, but as has been shown this week in the courts in Scotland, these requirements were unlawful, and should never have been imposed upon the Christian church, so why did we accept them? Why did we follow Peter, yeilding to an alien authority, rather than Paul, conveying what was fatally wrong for us?

The trouble we're in has been left to stifle and impair much of the church for the past 12 months, and Paul leaves us in no doubts where such bondage leaves us - severed from Christ (Galatians 5:4) because we have, in effect, abandoned what is essential concerning the inherent freedom given singularity in the Gospel of Grace.

What's imperative to learn here is how rapidly something other than Christ, other than the Gospel, can take centre stage in our thinking and behavior.

So, where does this leave us if we recognize the error we have made?

This misshapen mess, thankfully, isn't the conclusion to his letter.

He shows the Galatians that there is a way back from that error - back away from your confidence in your own 'keeping' of what you believe is required under your new religion and seek peace again before God with those you have shunned, there, at the foot of the cross, where we must never leave that freedom again.

That manner of Repentance and faith is what's so clearly needed now.

The entire body has suffered, and there is a deep and great need for repentance and reconciliation for all of us. I deeply know this to be true.

Then, we can begin to do the 'first works' over again, fulfilling the royal law of Christ to each other by being all that He commands of us, fully and openly, even though it will most certainly mean, as Paul writes with his own hand, persecution for the cross of Christ (Galatians 6:14).

That's the calling 

- it took Paul to standing alone before the powers of Rome.

Nothing else counts, the Apostle tells us, except Jesus crucified - the cross alone is the way of God.

It's not a road we want to walk upon - it is clearly going to painful and difficult in these coming days, but it is where Christ is calling us.

Where will we stand in respect to that truth in the days ahead?

Let's hope and pray that if secular powers can admit they entirely over-stepped the mark in respect to silencing normal Christian worship*, the church will earnestly do the same.

The consequences if we don't will be dire.

*Footnote: The Church of Scotland ruling also noted that the replacement of Christian community and worship via virtual means was no substitute for genuine worship and service of God.