Credentials

Galatians 1:11-23

Paul spends the rest of this first chapter reminding the Galatians of his credentials. He speaks about the zeal he had prior to his conversion, and then the same passion that he brought into his faith in Christ.

Why does he spend so much time talking about his own life? Because one thing the Judaizers were doing was dismissing Paul. In their attempt to force the Gentiles to add Jewish rules to their understanding of grace, the Judaizers were putting Paul down in order to elevate their own position.

Ever have that happen to you? Of course you have. Whether it’s at work or church or as part of some organization, we’ve all gone through “put-downs”. It’s the tactic of someone who isn’t able to stand on their argument alone. In order to strengthen their point, they must tear down their “opponents” credibility. We see it in politics all the time.

I think there is a time and place to respond like Paul does. You see, if all the Judaizers were doing was attacking Paul, he probably would have shrugged it off and just kept doing what God had called him to do. Paul wouldn’t have defended himself just for the sake of his own personal feelings.

But Paul knew that he had to defend himself for the sake of the Galatians. He needed to remind them of his credentials so that they would not dismiss the message of grace he had brought to them.

It’s important to make that distinction. There are times we should just “turn the other cheek.” There are times we need to speak up.

I learned a lesson about this many years ago. The youth pastor of the church I was attending had been fired. He was going around bad mouthing the Senior Pastor, telling lies about how he was treated. Since I was quite close to the Pastor, I went to him and asked him why he wasn’t defending himself. Why didn’t he speak up on a Sunday morning and defend his actions.

The Pastor gave me a great piece of advice. He said, “Rob, if you choose to get into the pigpen and fight with pigs, in the end, all that happens is you both get dirty.”

You see, he didn’t need to defend himself. His credentials did that already. The people of the church knew that he loved them. They trusted him, regardless of what the youth pastor was saying.

However, if the youth pastor had been tearing down the pastor because of doctrine, I know the response would have been different.

The point I’m trying to make is this: know when to battle and know when to remain silent.

Until tomorrow.