Working Together

Galatians 2:1-3

Paul really is cool. He has a rough exterior (as we will continually see in this letter), and yet internally he is so gentle. He truly wants to serve God with all his life, and he is constantly giving himself over to God’s direction.

In the first chapter, Paul goes on about receiving his message directly from Jesus. Later in this chapter, he makes the comment that he doesn’t get caught up in the “status” of the Jerusalem leaders.

And yet, here he is, going to Jerusalem to meet with the leadership. Why? To make sure that they approve of his message. He wants to be certain that they are on the same page. And he wanted to make sure there was strong unity between them, even if their focus was a little different.

You see, most of the Jerusalem leaders were focusing on winning Jews to Jesus. Paul knew his calling was to the Gentiles. They had different target groups. But neither was more – or less – valid.

I often meet people who will dismiss another person’s vision because it’s different than their own. “Oh, you feel called to Africa? That’s nice … YAWN! I think the REAL adventure is reaching bikers!”

It’s a dangerous trap and only leads to division and disunity.

We need to celebrate the diversity of calling, vision, and mission that the Church invests into. TOGETHER we reach the world.

I’ve often said to the other Biker Churches that while we should do many things the same way, we should not be mere imitations of each other. Instead, we should uniquely reach the people of our particular areas.

Paul was not a Lone Ranger. He was not so focused on his own vision that he didn’t see the validity in others. He was also not so consumed with himself that he could not submit to those in authority.

Two very important lessons we could all learn.

Until tomorrow.