11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. 12 When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. 13 As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?” ~ Galatians 2:11-14NLT
Peter was one of the Twelve who walked and talked with Jesus Himself. He was arguably Jesus’ best friend. He preached the first message on the Day of Pentecost and brought in 5,000 souls. He was a well-respected leader in the Church; nevertheless, not even he was above correction. When Paul corrected him, he didn’t condemn Paul. He didn’t pull up Paul’s past. He didn’t point out how long he was saved compared to Paul. He didn’t try to drag Paul’s name through the dirt and get him ostracized. Why? Because no one is above correction, but today that’s not a common belief.
Today, the Church has become unable to take correction. I’ve noticed that when someone doesn’t agree with one of my beliefs, they’ll start very friendly and kind, but as soon as I use Scripture they can’t defend against, they point out three things to me: I’m older than you, therefore wiser than you. I’ve been a Christian longer than you, therefore, I know and understand the Bible better than you. If they’re a man, they bring up that I’m female and, therefore, can’t possibly know better than a man. They never use Scripture. In fact, I was recently condemned and called all sorts of things in the comment section because I wouldn’t accept the beliefs of a man who believes he’s older than me (his age was never said, so I can’t say for sure). His biggest problem with me was that I used Scripture for why I didn’t believe his beliefs. He wanted to discuss the Scripture without quoting it. That is the temperature of the majority of “Christians” today. We want to push our ideology, our narrative, our truth, and when they contradict the Word of God, and someone points it out, we get angry. We get defensive. We get aggressive. Why? Pride.
Pride will blind us, keeping us from seeing the Truth. It will force us to create our own truth and disregard whether or not it agrees or disagrees with the only Truth, the Word of God. It will cause us to lash out when asked for Biblical evidence and see anyone who shows us the Truth in the Word of God as a bigoted hypocrite. This isn’t how the Church is to react. We are to use the Bible for correction so that we can grow. No one is perfect. Not me. Not you. Not even Peter, arguably Jesus’ best friend. Pride will keep us from God, for He humbles the proud but elevates the humble.
If your beliefs are challenged, defend them with Scripture. If they are weighed, measured, and found wanting, then change those beliefs. No one is above correction because no one is perfect.
Dear LORD, please search me. Convict me of any false beliefs, practices, or stances that I have within me. Show me any sin that has made a home in my life. Help me to root my beliefs in You and Your Truth and not in myself or another’s truth. Help me to strive to better myself each day. Teach me to take correction, and humble me so that pride may not build up in my life. Help me to always seek You and Your Kingdom. Guide me in all of my ways so that I may not be led astray by another shepherd. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
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