David Bahn – Reflections

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

² Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. ³ I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴ You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

⁷ You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? ⁸ This persuasion is not from him who calls you. ⁹ A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ¹⁰ I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. ¹¹ But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. ¹² I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

I preached at Trinity Lutheran Church in Amarillo last Sunday, and shared the Max Lucado fishing story from his book, The Eye of the Storm. It’s a humorous and disarming account of a trip with is dad and friend Mark that Max took as a young boy. Foul weather rolled in the night they arrived and set up their camper. They went to sleep dreaming of their day in the sun, not realizing they would be stuck inside their camper for the next few days. The weather outside was blustery and cold. The atmosphere inside the camper was hot and contentious. He draws a moral from his experience with his dad and friend Mark. “When fishermen don’t fish, they fight.” It’s a delightful story, worth the read – as is the whole book. Send me a message and I’ll send you my copy of the story.

I thought of that as I read Paul’s warning, “But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” I can think of few things sadder than church fights. I’ve seen people leave church meetings in tears because of things said. I’ve been the target of unfair criticism and fair criticism delivered unkindly. I’ve experienced few of these, thankfully, but one is too many for God’s people to experience. 

Then I think of Martin Luther. He was not exactly uncontentious. Granted he was put into a corner and had to stand for the truth. But it got him excommunicated. And he lived as an outlaw from the Holy Roman Empire until his death of natural causes. Sometimes you have to stand for the truth – as Luther did. But another contemporary of  Luther, Rupertus Meldenius, was more inclined to collaboration. He famously said, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” Luther’s close colleague, Philip Melanchthon famously expressed the near identical phrase.

But in Galatia, there were church fights about doctrine that Paul could not ignore. He had to stand against those who were adding to the gospel: requirements of circumcision and other Old Testament Laws. It is not clear whether they were requiring these converts to go as far as following the rituals of the Mishnah regarding extra Sabbath or dietary rules. But their insistence on requiring circumcision in order to be fully accepted into the family of God endangered the Gospel message itself.

We must never cede the Gospel in favor of even the finest sounding extra requirements. But more often than not our conflicts within the church are about preferences, and matters of opinion about which honorable men and women can disagree. In that case, civility must prevail. Jesus has freed us from the curse of the Law, from condemnation, and from the power of sin. We honor him best when we love and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ, holding them in honor and esteem – even if they want pink paisley carpet in the chancel… well maybe not pink!