Yesterday we saw how hearing stories that differ from our own experience can encourage us. Today we will see how they can challenge us.
In Acts 10 Peter has a vision of unclean animals coming down in a sheet. A voice from heaven tells him to kill and eat. Peter's response is that he has never eaten anything unclean and therefore he cannot. This happens three times. Then a messenger arrives and calls Peter to come to the house of a Roman centurion named Cornelius. The dietary laws of the OT would have formerly forbidden Peter from visiting the home of Gentile as he states in his conversation with them upon arrival, "28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean." Talk about a good intro! "I used to think you were unclean but now you're not." Thanks man.
Peter proceeds to share the gospel with them and the Holy Spirit falls on everyone in Cornelius's house and they speak in tongues and praise God. Their conversion and God's acceptance of the Gentiles was clear.
The part of the story I want to focus on today is in chapter 11. When Peter returns to Jerusalem he is criticized by members of the circumcision party (Acts 11:2-3). The circumcision party (not a party anyone wants to go to 😜) consisted of Jews who believed in Jesus but thought new converts to Christianity had to follow the Law of Moses, particularly circumcision, the dietary laws and the feasts and festivals were in question. Peter responds by sharing his story of what happened.
Let's not diminish the significance of this moment. There is a discussion raging in the early church about the acceptance of Gentiles in the community: how is it to be done? what rules should they follow? Peter's story here flies in the face of the circumcision party and everything they have been arguing for. Their pride and desire to be right would lead them to dismiss Peter's story out of hand or rationalize it's meaning to somehow fit their narrative. Instead of allowing their pride to dictate their response, they change their narrative.
Acts 11:18 18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
When we hear stories like this that challenge the way we view the world and God's work in the world, we must be willing to set our pride aside and listen to the story, assessing whether or not it is true and fits within Scripture and the character of God.
Tomorrow we will look at how to listen. Friday we will discuss how to discern and learn.