I Now Realize

 In Acts 10:9-48, we read the story of how Peter came to realize that no group was to be excluded from God’s Kingdom. Through a series of visions from God, Peter comes to understand this new reality. 

Here are a couple of key verses from that story:

Acts 10:27-28 NIV

While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.”

Acts 10:34-35 NIV

Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.”

“I now realize” is a pivotal phrase from Peter in the book of Acts. He had been a believer for years. He had witnessed miracles and performed them through the power of the Holy Spirit, yet he still carried a cultural hang-up about Gentiles.

God suddenly challenged a mindset that had been shaped by Peter’s upbringing as a Jewish boy. He had been taught what to eat and with whom to associate. Peter could not fathom a Christ follower who ate pork and wasn’t Jewish. It wasn’t that Peter was a bad man. His upbringing had simply taught him otherwise.

Peter had a lifetime of cultural conditioning. Because of his religious tradition and its interpretation of Scripture, he viewed some people groups as beyond the reach of God’s love. 

We read this story and wonder, How could Peter think any group of people were beyond God’s love after all he had experienced as an apostle of Jesus?

If we are honest, we all carry mental pictures of what a Christ follower should look and act like. We inherit those pictures from our traditions and cultures. Just as Peter could not imagine a Christ follower who wasn’t Jewish and didn’t follow kosher laws, we can struggle to recognize God’s work in people who do not fit our expectations. The conditioning of our childhood can seem insurmountable. Yet if we are to grow as Christians, it is something we all must confront.

Peter’s conditioning was not unique. This is the battle of every Christian in every generation. Like Peter, we need the Holy Spirit to expose our blind spots and reshape our thinking.

As a child, I was taught that Jesus loves all the little children of the world. I was taught that anyone could become a Christian. But in practice, there seemed to be additional requirements. People needed to assimilate. They needed to think like we thought, interpret the Bible like we did, vote like us, dress like us, talk like us, and spend time with people like us. Then they could be Christians.

If they didn’t, we might label them a heretic.

Record scratch…

Acts 10:15 NIV

The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Hello?

Help us, Lord Jesus. Convict us of our prejudices and assumptions. Tear down the barriers we build. Help us love the people You love and welcome those You have welcomed. Give us the humility to say, like Peter, “I now realize.”

Amen.