4:116 – Faith places and non-faith places

#faithbites #faithjourney non-faith

Intro

During his sermon on Sunday, our pastor brought up the concept of faith and non-faith places. He brought this up in relation to how you act and how you show your faith. Are you different in church on Sunday vs work on Monday? This gets us to think more about the masks we wear and if we are a whole person or split between two worlds. I often wonder how I’m showing myself to others in different situations and different places.

Questions

• Do you consider yourself a whole person or are you different based on where you are and whom you are interacting with?
• What are your faith and non-faith places? Are they different?
• How can we work towards all places being faith places?

Scripture

• Galatians 2:11-13 – 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.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 – ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Reflection

As our pastor shared, Paul chastises Peter for his behavior. Peter went to Antioch (a non-faith place for Jews), and he lived it up with the Gentiles. He shared the word, ate with sinners, and lived with them. When his Jewish friends came (reminders of his faith place), he pulled back into the old ways. He didn’t eat or drink with the “unclean” and relied on the old way of doing things, the Jewish Law. How often do we change how we share Jesus or act just to be accepted by our old way of life?

As we see in 2 Corinthians, the old is gone. It’s hard to not slip back, but we are new creatures and all our places should be faith places. It is up to us, through Christ, to work on this daily. We may need to change our approach while still being true to who we are and our belief in Christ.

As we close, remember, and accept this new life that Christ died for. Be a whole person and walk with him at all times.

Prayer

Father God, you made us wonderfully and love us. You have given us the skills to follow and share your word. Help us to truly be a whole new creation in Christ where we aren’t different in different circumstances. Let us love all and approach everything and everyone with love, kindness, and respect. We know this isn’t easy and we may fail at tearing down the silos in our life. For that, we ask forgiveness. In your name, we pray, Amen.