i love this!!!

i was reading the bible this morning and i came accross a very interesting passage: acts 15:1-12

here is the "majada" as my mom would say, or the mass of people in judea, talking about whether or not the jewish law of circumcision would be required of new gentile (non jewish) believers in christ. after all, moses required it, why not them?

paul and barnabas debate for a long while with them and then decide to take the matter to jerusalem to consult the apostles.

when they get there, they debate some more. even some pharisees that had come to faith in christ were arguing, but they were up to their old tricks arguing for circumcision (by the way, this is interesting in and of itself. we always talk smack about the hard headed pharisees but forget that some of them actually believed in jesus).

so then the apostles and elders get together to talk about it. after some discussion, peter (who is often referred to as the unspoken and non-titular leader of the apostles - the first among equals if you will) stands up and shuts them all down. he reminds them of a simple truth:

verse 10: "Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

WOW. This is an amazing statement. Peters realistic assessment and humility stuns me. What growth must have happened from the point where the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest to the humble leader that he is here. i can see him standing before them, speaking these words, and everyone in the room stayed silent. they knew he was right. they knew that the yoke of the law was heavy, but that the yoke of jesus is light.

it honestly moves me. the leadership of the Church needs to humbly lead people. they need to remind the Church that we should not be throwing baggage onto the backs of other believers that jesus already removed. the freedom that we have in christ is limitless. we should all be taking advantage of it to love and serve others, not return them to bondage. praise god, his yoke is light!!!!