A New Message Must First Be Evaluated By Leaders?

Galatians 2:2
I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain.

Apostle Paul seems like a stranger among believers. Though he turned out to be the greatest among disciples by the amount of work he did, yet he began as a gate crusher in Christianity. He was not among the twelve disciples that Jesus chose. He was not even a replacement for Judas Iscariot.

When Jesus sent out seventy disciples, Paul was not among them. When Jesus met hundreds of people after the resurrection, Paul was not among them. When the Holy Spirit came and empowered many believers to speak in tongues, Paul was not there. When the church had its first three thousand converts, Paul wasn’t one of them!

Apostle Paul was killing and persecuting Christians as they executed the Great Commission. When Jesus called Paul to Christianity and ministry, He didn’t consult the existing believers. Paul joined Christianity and began preaching as a gate crusher. He had to find a way to fit in, rather than run a parallel church. He had to find a way of unity rather than claim to have a church within the church or a remnant within the remnant.

Other disciples were typically Jews and low class. Paul was a Jew with Roman citizenship. Paul was very educated and high class while other disciples were at best, unschooled fishermen. Paul was so different yet God called him. Paul worked hard to be one with fellow believers rather than emphasize their differences. We too shouldn’t emphasize our differences of race and tribe and class. We should erase differences and embrace unity as Paul did!

Other disciples went preaching to fellow Jews, urging them to become Christians. Paul was different, he went to preach to the non-Jews aka Gentiles. He believed and preached equality for everyone in Christ. In the beginning, his content and method seemed to be totally different from the rest of the church. What did he do when he noticed the difference? Go ahead without care insisting that only he knew the truth? No! That would be unchristian and careless.

Our text today tells us that, Paul went to the church leaders, the original disciples of Jesus. He presented his message and methods so that they can evaluate if it was consistent with what Jesus taught and what the church approved. Paul had direct interaction with Jesus, yet he was humble enough to seek clarification from church leaders. Would we with our little education and findings of a Bible study seek clarification from church leaders who are less educated than us and of a lower class? Or would we rather dismiss the leaders and create confusion in the church as we preach a contrary message calling it present truth or new revelation?

We need to learn from Apostle Paul. If you feel you have the latest Present truth that is unconventional and may disrupt church order, take it to the church leaders you are tempted to despise and let them look at it. It would be careless for leaders to allow members to be confused by every Tom, Dick, and Harry who has a present truth. It would also be irresponsible for the preachers of present truth not to seek approval. The church has order!

If you feel that you know the date when Jesus is coming, yet the words of Jesus in the Bible are that nobody knows, then consult church leaders. If you feel the Bible allows polygamy yet the church doesn’t, consult the leaders. If you feel the church has no problem with LGBTQ, yet there are explicit verses in the Bible, consult the church leadership. If you don’t like some doctrines of the church or it’s logo or colors or even structure, consult the leadership. Didn’t the great Apostle Paul consult leaders of the church? Leaders with lesser status in society and lower academic qualifications? Hasn’t the Bible told us he consulted?

If you can’t start your own religion or denomination, then conform to the order in the church. Seek approval. You may learn something about what you have misinterpreted. Be humble to seek another opinion. If you are right and they insist to stop you, March out in the name of Jesus, God will be with you and bless your new venture. If you doubt that God will be with you, then you could be preaching conjecture.

Galatians 2:7
On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.

Galatians 2:9-10
(9) James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. (10) All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.

Paul was eventually approved as a legitimate preacher of Christianity. Paul was officially recognized as an Apostle to Gentiles. The ministry to the poor was affirmed. What a wise way to deal with new truths we discover!

May God make us humble enough to accept direction by leaders He has appointed, and courage to March out if we must, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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