Wednesday Bible Study: People of the Epistles part four

 

 

 

Paul had a BIG problem with his Galatian Church, and it started with who they listened to.  He spared no punches, calling them "foolish" and "bewitched".  I should point out, this is not the same word in "foolish" that Jesus warned against; it actually translates pretty well into "without thinking".  This reminds me of the current social media culture, where you just end up with groups of opposed people spewing party lines.  This is what Paul was up against with this bunch.

As I looked through the letter, I found a set of things that the Judaizers were pumping the Galatian church with that made Paul mad, and led them to some unfortunate actions as a result.

First, they accused Paul of trying to "please men"...

Gal 1:10  For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

And just how was he trying to "please men"?  Well, for one, they accused him of trying to please rich sponsors...

Gal 2:4  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--
Gal 2:5  to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
Gal 2:6  And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)--those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 

 

And this is where Paul gave his great "I withstood Peter to his face" story, and not to bash Peter.  The Judaizers were, if you read between the lines, accusing him of pleasing men by doing the very thing Paul lit into Peter about- preaching uncircumcision to the Gentiles, and circumcision to the Jews.

Gal 5:11  But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.
Gal 5:12  I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

Paul sure had a way with words, didn't he?  In addition to suggesting self-mutilation to his enemies, he makes the bigger point- if he WAS preaching circumcision to them, why were they still bashing him?  There was also another angle they were coming at the Galatians from, similar to their "Paul's seeking influence" argument...

Gal 4:17  They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.

Kind of sounds like they were using a "you're smarter than that," argument, puffing the Galatians up so that they in turn would puff the Judaizers up.  And the only way to accomplish that was to shut Paul and his fellows from contact with them- I believe we'll be hitting that tactic later with the Colossians- so that they would only listen to them.  Now, let me put this into a more modern, church-destroying form:

- "The Pastor is just trying to make the right people happy"

- Accusing the pastor of doing something; when it doesn't work, accuse him of the opposite. "He should do a sermon on politics", "He should stay out of politics".  Circular reasoning is always a sure sign of Satan's involvement.

- "You're going nowhere at this church- no one listens to you.  You should be at MY church, you'd be teaching classes by now..."

Another thing they were introducing was something Paul just got done breaking the Corinthians of...

Gal 4:9  But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Gal 4:10  You observe days and months and seasons and years!
Gal 4:11  I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

"You have to adhere to ritual!"  I'm not going to bring up the Catholic Church's problem with this again, but I will bring up a favorite line from another philosophy...

Tao Te Cheng, chapter 38

When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, there is morality.
When morality is lost, there is ritual.
Ritual is the husk of true faith,
the beginning of chaos.

Again, when the priority is on ritual, you can be sure Satan gets involved.  Even the pagan Lao-Tzu knew that.

Finally, look at what the half-truths, circular reasoning, and flat lies had cultivated in them:

First, they lost how they were brought to faith...

Gal 3:1  O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
Gal 3:2  Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 

Second, they lost love for each other, just like in Corinth:

Gal 5:14  For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Gal 5:15  But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Third, the "puffing up" was working...

Gal 5:25  If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Gal 5:26  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. 

 

Which  naturally switched them from "all for one" to "all for me"...

Gal 6:2  Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Gal 6:3  For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

And at that point, you no longer have a church...

Gal 1:6  I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--
Gal 1:7  not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

So the lesson here is- don't spout sound bites, LEARN what you believe.  There are wolves everywhere trying to get you to listen to divisive, hateful jargon, wrapped in flags and slogans.  And the only way to not get "bewitched" is to get educated.  That stands in the world, and in faith as well.