Pruning....

This morning I was thinking of Peter...  
- Apostle  
- close friend of Jesus  
- Leader in the church  
- Commissioned by God to be the first  
to bring the gospel to the Gentiles  
- Staunch supporter of Paul and his ministry to the Gentiles  
and then...  

'negative feedback'....  

Galatians 2:11 When Peter came to Antioch,   
I (Paul) opposed him to his face,   
because he was clearly in the wrong.  
12 Before certain men came from James,  
he used to eat with the Gentiles.
But when they arrived,
he began to draw back
and separate himself from the Gentiles
because he was afraid
of those who belonged to the circumcision group.
13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy,
so that by their hypocrisy
even Barnabas was led astray.
14 When I saw that they were not acting
in line with the truth of the gospel,
I said to Peter in front of them all,
"You are a Jew,
yet you live like a Gentile
and not like a Jew.
How is it, then,
that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

Ouch.

Double Ouch....
....In front of everyone too....

Paul was right
Peter was wrong
there needed to be correction
Lots of people were being mislead
it was a critical issue

But did he have to do it PUBLICLY?

Hmmm...
I am sure that Paul struggled with what to do
and when....
....His right hand man
His advocate from the beginning
Barnabas
was misled
...it was time to do something.....

My thoughts this morning are;
How did it land for Peter?
How did he walk out that day
and the next...
...public correction.....
What did humility
and owning up
and repentance
look like
and
FEEL like for Him....?

Did he feel like Paul and the 'Church'
had 'wounded' him?
Did he feel like throwing in the towel?
Did he feel like 'done with church'?

Probably.

But he listened to Paul's words
He listened to the Spirit
He walked into humility (and humiliation)
and
Repentance
(Which is CHANGE.... not just feeling sorry...).
and then
he went on to fulfill the calling
Jesus had set before him,
"Feed my sheep
Feed my lambs
Love me....." John 21:15-18

Lord,
Correction
Feedback
even criticism.....
My heart cringes
I shy away
I feel vulnerable
and would rather not have it....

And Yet.
It is one of the ways
You grow me up
You bring maturity
You prune to produce more
fruit in my life.

O Lord,
grow me up
Teach me
correct my miss steps

I choose to do the hard work
of listening to correction
and CHANGE....
That I will walk
in the plans You have for me.

Today.

Yeah.

PJ