Topography vs. Bureaucracy

Galatians 2:1–10 NKJV

1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. 2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4 And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), 5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. 6 But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter 8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), 9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.

Being individually responsible doesn’t mean splitting off from the larger body of Christ.

Paul had been preaching the good news of Jesus to Gentiles for over fourteen years by the time he made this trip to Jerusalem.

The purpose of the trip was to clear up a misunderstanding born of the reality that the majority of the established church was Jewish.

A rumor had begun circulating (and at times, continued to persist) that Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) was denigrating the law and Judaism as a whole and that he taught its incompatibility with Christianity. None of this was true.

Acts 21:17–25 (NKJV)

17 And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; 21 but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. 22 What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. 23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. 24 Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. 25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

That is a much later event, but it illustrates well the potential division that was stirring.

Paul had been leading a successful Gentile ministry for a long time. He knew he was ministering faithfully. But the leaders of the larger church in Jerusalem didn’t, and that was the seat of controversy.

He chose to address the problem head on, but he did it diplomatically. There was no reason for him to make a public stir. Doing that would have actually been counterintuitive; he wanted to preserve unity. For that reason, he addressed the leaders in private and told them exactly what it was he preached.

If he didn’t do the work to maintain unity with the larger body, he risked all of his labor being “in vain.”

Preserve Christian doctrine over private religion.

Prioritize Christ’s assignments over pastoral planning.