The passage for the sermon this past Sunday came from several scenes in Acts 16. As I was reading along, my thoughts began to wander about a detail that wasn’t addressed in the sermon, but stirred many thoughts in me as I considered how faith connects with cultures. In the first few verses of Acts 16, we’re introduced to Timothy.
1 Paul went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
As I scanned these verses, I started to think about what led Paul to take Timothy for circumcision. I assume circumcision is not something any adult does haphazardly; it’s kinda a big deal. What’s more is that Paul is recorded elsewhere being vehemently against requiring Gentiles/Greeks to get circumcised; the book of Galatians is an angry letter on this very subject!
But in Acts, it seems as though he’s willing to go against these convictions. So this made me wonder if connecting with “the Jews who were in those places” and knowing what they would accept is more important than rules and truth. Perhaps the truth of relationships and bending your own rules for the sake of others is closer to the heart of faith than alignment with what you believe to be ethically demanded of you.
In today’s church where one part of the church often tries to critique another part as being too conservative or liberal… progressive or regressive….. I wonder if we’re putting too much weight on being right (or at least calling others wrong) and not giving enough consideration to how we compromise on our beliefs for the sake of connection and acceptance.
My thoughts immediately go to the traditional church and its stubborn position on LGBTQ inclusion. Even if one’s convictions were to maintain “traditional” views on sexuality (as convicted as Paul was on circumcision not being imposed for Gentiles — I think he calls it mutilation in one of the letters), would the church be willing to put that aside in order to connect with others?