Unfortunately, the attitude that Peter experiences here in Acts 11 is all too common in our church culture today. People these days want to know, what is your background, what church did you grow up in, what’s your theology, or what’s your stance on such-and-such. I don’t believe these are unimportant issues, but the point is, they are not the most important issue. When it really comes down to it, the most important thing is Jesus.
Peter knows this. He’s just been with Gentiles who proclaimed Christ as their Savior. In addition, these Gentiles also received the Holy Spirit. He saw it with his own eyes! When he returns, all his Jewish buddies want to know why he was hanging around with the wrong crowd. Fast-forward thousands of years and we have the same thing happening today.
I realize there’s a lot of grey area when it comes to this subject, but it burns me when I hear of a person who was trying to come to church and was told, “Sorry, we don’t accept people like you.” The beauty of Jesus Christ is that he didn’t give one rip what gender, race, religion, or social status a person had. He came to save the lost, plain and simple. And in order to save the lost, He willingly demonstrated his love for them.
The simplicity of this act boils down to this; when we try and control, or manipulate, or judge who we think should be or has been saved, we are not representing the Christ who died for humanity. Peter didn’t quite understand why these Gentiles were receiving the Spirit. He maybe was even a little concerned or caught off guard. But he knew one thing; he was to go and make disciples of all nations. ALL nations.
We as the church need to get off our high horse when it comes to showing Christ to others. We have to understand that in order to be like Jesus, they first need to experience Jesus. And when you read through the Gospels, we see a man who was counter-cultural in the way he distributed grace to those who would not have gotten a second look from most people.
Their past, their theology, their opinion on hot topics; all of those will all be fine once they know Jesus Christ. So let’s do our job, and show them Jesus instead of trying to determine their worth. Peter shows us that the least likely of all people in our minds may be the very ones God is going to reach next for his kingdom!