14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? – Galatians 2
At the foundation, this wasn’t an issue of seating arrangements at the church potluck. It wasn’t about table manners and being a good host. It wasn’t even about being sensitive to another brother’s conscience. Paul saw the issue for what it was; it was about the truth of the gospel. When the certain men from James, and Peter, and Barnabas, and the rest of the Jews of the church in Antioch would not eat with Gentile Christians, they declared those Gentiles unsaved unbelievers. They said loud and clear, “You can only be right with God if you put yourself under the demands of the Law of Moses. You must be circumcised. You must eat a kosher diet. You must observe the feasts and rituals. You must do nothing that would imply partnership with someone who is not under the Law of Moses. This is the only way to receive the salvation of Jesus.” That message made Paul say, “I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel.”
What a scene Peter’s confrontation must have been! There they were, at the Antioch Christian potluck. The Gentile Christians had just been asked to leave, or were told to sit in their own section away from the real Christians. They also weren’t allowed to share the same food that the real Christians ate. Peter went along with all this. Barnabas – the man who led many of the Gentiles to Jesus – went along with all this. The rest of the Jews in the church at Antioch went along with all this. But Paul would not stand for it. Because this was a public affront to the Gentile Christians and because it was a public denial of the truth of the gospel, Paul confronted Peter in a public way.
Confrontation is an integral part of the Christian faith. Peter’s mistake was not eternal for himself (aka, Peter was still saved). Paul understood that Peter’s mistake could be eternal for someone else. This is why Peter’s decision was considered to be against the gospel. When we live like hypocrites, other’s can be harmed eternally. One of the most common reasons for leaving the church is the blatant hypocrisy that sometimes rears it’s ugly head. Today’s verse challenges us to account for our own hypocrisy. When people look at your life, what do they see? Do they see Jesus?