Stop Making The Gospel Harder Than Jesus Made It

Division doesn’t usually start with big, dramatic theology. It starts with small tests we quietly invent: how a preacher should dress, what “counts” as worship, what traditions feel proper, who we’re comfortable sitting with. We feel like we’re protecting the church, but we may be protecting our preferences. So we’re asking a blunt question: what actually unites us when everything else keeps changing? 

We walk through Galatians 2:11–20 where Paul confronts Peter face to face for pulling away from Gentile believers. The stakes are enormous: when Peter shifts his behavior to please a certain group, the gospel starts to look like an insiders-only club. Paul drags the focus back to the center of Christian faith: justification by faith in Jesus Christ, not works of the law, not cultural markers, not rule-keeping that makes newcomers prove they belong. 

From there, we connect it to the tensions churches still face today: hymnal versus screens, organ versus guitar, ties versus T-shirts, attendance books versus QR codes. We also revisit Acts 15, Ephesians 4, and Philippians 2 to frame a practical path toward Christian unity, humility, forgiveness, and a church culture where everyone has a seat at the table because Jesus invited them. If you want a clearer view of the mission of the church and a better way to handle disagreements, listen through and then subscribe, share, and leave a review with what challenged you most.

Transcript

Why Division Keeps Showing Up

SPEAKER_01 0:02

So I've been really struggling with how to end the this message, the series of why Jesus. And it's funny because I realize that I I pretty much preached an Easter message last week and it's like middle of June, right? But I've been really trying to stay focused on what unites us not only as a church here, but what unites us as a church as a whole. Because the one thing that I see more often than not is we are quite divided on a lot of topics. I mean, the world is highly divisive. I mean, just pay attention to any political threat. It's quite fascinating. And then, you know, social media has videos and stuff, and I don't know if you guys saw the video recently, and this one kind of stuck with me. There's a minister of a church, a pastor of a church who had some conflict with his neighbor. The guy lived across the street from him. And the gentleman, this has been going on for six years, and and uh the pastor had finally had enough. This guy, 20-year-old kid, was saying some highly inappropriate things. And so the pastor of this church crosses the street, a four-lane street, confronts this young man for the things that he's saying. The young man takes a swing at him, and this this minister of this church proceeds to beat him to a pulp. Listen, that that's an interesting reaction, but but the interesting reaction is seeing there's people who are in defense of this man because of what he did. Because you defended or you offended his family. There's people who are against what he did, saying he's a he's a minister of Jesus. How could he ever be like that? He shouldn't be. But but again, it just it just kind of shows you the political divide. And listen, I'm not telling you what to think about the situation, I have my own thoughts. But but we're constantly divided against each other, even in the church, we're constantly divided. You know, I I think about the church as a family, and I think that we should.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

And uh families aren't perfect. We screw it up more often than we like to admit.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

I know that that my family, I love my family, but my brothers and I growing up, and they're both here, didn't always get along. We used to fight like cats and dogs, man. Doesn't mean I don't love them. Doesn't mean I want to die for them. It just means that we're brothers. My kids fight all the time. They fight about the stupidest things. And I mean it like I I wanna I'm gonna start recording my kids so when they're older, I can show them the videos. They'll fight about the pronunciation of a word that neither of them are saying right. They're both wrong, but they swear the other one is. And I'm like, no, you neither of you get it. And then I try to tell them something, and and Griffin, I love him. I'll try to correct him. He's like, well, that's not right. I'm like, buddy, I think I know just a little bit more. But but these divisions, I think, are part of it's part of the beauty, but it's also part of the challenge of the church as a whole. I tell people my favorite thing about the church are people, my least favorite thing about the church are also people. Because sometimes there's there's collision. And and the early church was was not opposed to this, they they weren't immune from it. Galatians uh chapter 2, verses 11 through 20. This is Paul writing, says, When uh Cephas, who's Peter, came to Antioch. Paul writes, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. For 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. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that their hypocrisy, even Barnabas, was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas 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? We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles, know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus

When Conflict Hits Close To Home

SPEAKER_01 5:15

Christ. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn't that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not. If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. So Paul is confronting Peter on a certain matter. Peter was a man who, you know, you talk about the building of the church, the book of Acts, the day of Pentecost. But but Peter was kind of stuck because he was a Jew by birth, but but he was living as a free man in Christ. And so the Gentiles, especially during this time, and if you read through Romans, Romans is a huge kind of conflict here, because you have Jews who are trying to tell Gentiles that they have to be circumcised. In order to truly be saved by Christ, they have to be circumcised. Now I don't know about you, but if I gave my life to Christ as a grown man and someone said that I had to be circumcised to be saved, I would be like, I don't think that's gonna happen. Right? And and so they're making it increasingly difficult for the Gentiles to be grafted in because the gospel's for them. And and so Peter has this revelation, he has this dream, and and a cloud comes down, there's animals that he shouldn't eat, and animals he should eat, and God tells him to eat, and Peter kind of disagrees, and then God says, Listen, don't don't you dare call anything clean or unclean that I call clean. And so God makes it very clear to Peter the message of the gospel is as much for the Gentiles as it is for you. And so Peter knows this. And so when he's sitting among the Gentiles, he's living it up. He's loving them, he's showing them what to do, he's trying to portray the gospel to them. And then some Jewish men show up, and Peter shifts his entire focus because he's worried about what they might say. Oh, I'm I'm eating with Gentiles. And so Peter starts to focus on the circumcision side of things, so much so that Barnabas gets confused and caught up in it. And so Paul confronts him. I love what he says. Paul says, I opposed him to his face. Paul didn't write a letter. Paul waited until he saw him and said, knock it off. You're living as a Gentile, anyways, and yet you were robbing the Gentiles of the gospel message because they don't fit into what you think they should do. The mold that you expect of them. Why are you making this so hard? He says, This is not the point. If anything, Paul, being a Jew among Jews, understood that he was saved by grace, by Christ alone. That's what mattered. And so he's saying to Peter, don't be that guy. Don't cause unnecessary division. Don't don't get so caught up on this idea of circumcision that you refuse to take the message of the gospel to the Gentiles who have also been brought in to the fold. That was Paul's mission, you see, was to take the the knowledge of Christ to the Gentiles. And so Peter has this conflict in the early church, it's kind of butting heads. If you've ever read any letters that Paul wrote to any of the churches in the New Testament, you realize they're full of imperfect people all the way around. The church in Corinth is a mess, man. Galatians, Colossians, you see these, you know, the Ephesians church, the Ephesus Church, they're just trying to navigate it. But but the one thing that is consistent with Paul is Paul keeps pointing people back to Jesus. So the last couple weeks we've been focused on that. What did Jesus do? What did he say? What did he claim? He died on the cross, he resurrected from the dead, he he set the tone, he saved humanity, right? So Paul has this idea and he understands that the mission is Jesus and Jesus only. The law is not going to save you, your traditions aren't going to save you. Being a Jew isn't going to save you. Only Christ will save you. And so Paul has to correct Peter publicly. He addresses him because he doesn't want him to lose sight of the mission. And what I love about this is God had to show Peter, he'd already had, he had to show Peter that the Gentiles were part of the plan, just the same. The mission was the same, but the focus shifted. It wasn't just for the Jews. God had come for everybody now. The veil was torn. Christ had been revealed. The Messiah had come. It was for everyone who was willing to accept him. And here they're stuck. They're stuck because they're attached to what they knew and couldn't embrace what God was trying to tell them. Sometimes change is necessary. I chose a dress like this on purpose. For a couple reasons. I didn't grow up in the church. But I know a couple decades ago, and I've and I've had people tell me this that you're not really a preacher if you don't wear a tie.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Am I qualified now? And I say that because listen, there's nothing wrong with dressing like this.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

I do not like it. Nothing personal. I am sweating to death in this thing. Right? Someone asked me if I was gonna marry someone this morning. I said, no, I'm not, because this is definitely my wedding desire. But but but here's here's what I've learned about me. And yes, I tied my own

Paul Confronts Peter In Public

SPEAKER_01 12:50

tie years ago. I learned how to tie a half windsor. See if I can get it untied. I learned how to tie a half windsard. Oh man. So here's the question. Does this me taking my tie off, does it change who I am? Not at all. Does it make me less Jason? It doesn't. Again, there's nothing wrong with it. This is a pretty good getup. I like this getup. I like to roll my sleeves up. But here's the thing that I know for a fact.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

This shirt does not define who I am.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

As pretty as it is, and as grateful as I am for it, this shirt does not define who I am. I knew that was gonna happen. I'm not saying that it is. But that shirt does not define who I am. Does this make me less Jason because I don't have a button-up shirt on? It doesn't. Not at all. But but here's what I know, and what I've seen in my life when we talk about division, is people, and listen, this goes both ways. People will walk into a church who've never walked in a church in their life and look at a guy dressed up like I just was, and like, well, I can't learn anything from him. He's so clean cut. I mean, look at him. Then you have people who sit in the same church who look at a guy dressed like me and say, What's wrong with him? Doesn't he know that you're supposed to wear a suit and a tie? But but here's the thing this isn't what defines me. Peter was arguing that that circumcision, being circumcised would define them as being saved by Christ, and Paul says that's not true. Paul says what matters is do they know Christ? Would you guys take out your attend oh you guys don't have these? Take out your attendance book. Write down my name, let everyone know that I'm here. I'm gonna take out my phone, scan that QR code, let everyone know that I'm here. By the way, same thing, different technology. This doesn't define us. Let's worship.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Grab your hymnals, turn to 176. Let's worship.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

Alright. Words will be on the screen. Right? And the problem is we allow these things to tell us that we have to have one or another in order for this to work. Because God cannot be here unless He does or we do things exactly the way we want them done. And listen, this goes both ways because to those who grew up with a hymnal, for those of us who didn't, we should be able to stand alongside you and worship just the same because you're worshiping the same God that we are. Maybe it's a little different. Maybe there's an organ, maybe it's a cappella. And and for people who come in and say, Well, I can't I can't work with them, I can't, I can't be there because they don't do things the way that I prefer. It doesn't work that way. And it's the same with those who play worship on a guitar or drums. Paul's entire problem or his entire argument against Peter is stop focusing on the minor things and focus on the one thing that matters. Christ and him crucified. Change is inevitable. Can you imagine how difficult it was to going uh to go from being a nation chosen for God to all of a sudden the Gentiles are part of the plan? Acts 15, 6 through 21 says the apostles and elders met to consider this question, and after much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them. He said, Brothers, you know that some time ago God uh made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No. We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are. I love this because this is a completely different Peter. The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done uh done among the Gentiles through them. And when they finished, James spoke up, brothers, he said, listen to me. Simon has described us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. The words of the prophets are in agreement with them, as it is written. It's its ruin, I will rebuild and I will restore it, that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things, things known from long ago. It is it is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood, and for the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times, and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath. They come to the realization that the message is for everyone because the message is Christ. That that's the unifying factor in all of this. You and I don't argue today whether or not Gentiles should be part of the family of God. If we did, none of us would be here. And when we look at the gospel as a whole, when we look at the sacrifice that Jesus made, the death, the burial, the resurrection, Christ accomplished everything that was necessary for mankind to be saved. And listen, I I'm not saying it's it's wrong to like certain things. I I grew up with this kind of worship music my whole life. This this is all I knew. The first time I came across what I sorry, the first time I came across the hymn sang out of a book, I think I was like in my mid-20s. But this is what I grew up with. And some people, this this has been your whole life. And there's nothing wrong with that. It it's not my purpose to tell you to stop doing this because it's wrong. That's not the point. The point is that that you and I can like different things, we can prefer different things. Some of you might like me in a suit and tie. Some of you, if I was wearing a suit and tie, you would never talk to me. But my goal in life, and this this is the heart of all of it. What I dress like, the kind of music that I listen to, the kind of worship that I prefer, doesn't change who I am. I'm a sinner saved by grace. In love with a God who redeemed me from myself. My goal is to walk around and spread the message of the gospel everywhere that I go. And that should be our goal. The mission never changes. Churches change, culture changes. My brother and I were talking about this the other day. I hope when I'm 70 that I'm not the guy sitting in the back of a church going, oh, these kids. Can't believe they did that. Remember when we had two guitars, now they have 10, right? I don't want to be that guy. But but I understand that I'm getting older. I see this a lot of times with the younger generation. They do things and I'm like, you guys are idiots. But then I realize that at their age I did the same thing, just different. But but the one thing that has never changed is our desire, and it shouldn't. And the mission is to point people to Jesus. That's the reason you and I exist. And I know that I've said this before, and I've probably said it way too many times, but I can't stop talking about it because the mission of the church is always the same, even if it looks different. Because here's the thing: it's gonna change. This will change. As we progress with the building and the stuff that's going up on the property, when that building gets built, it's gonna be different up there too. But but that's not the point. We cannot be so fixated on the minors that we miss the major. We were in the process of planting uh a church uh right before COVID hit, and the name of that church was gonna just be called the house. And and it's funny because uh I kind of workshopped that idea, and I had a lot of people who kind of critiqued it, and and I appreciate that. I had a couple people tell me that that idea is dumb because you can't have a church and a house, and I'm like, well, we can talk about that. But but but the idea was simple.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

We wanted to create a church where everyone felt like they belonged. Everyone was welcome, always.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

It didn't matter what they looked like, didn't matter where they came from. The idea was was to provide them a place where they could come, probably have a good meal and get to know Jesus. You know, my least

Preferences, Change, And The Tie Test

SPEAKER_01 25:46

my least favored thing about the way church is today is I hate standing up here preaching. Now, don't don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't enjoy what I do, but I don't like this way of doing things because it leaves so much of the humanity out of it. Like I'm giving you guys a lecture, and if I do a really good job giving you a lecture, you're gonna give me an applause and keep me coming back, right? But but so much of of my heart is to sit around and to talk through things with people, to to help them study scripture, to to leave room for questions. Because here's here's what I've realized is some of the best discussions in my life have come sitting around the table with my family and my friends. And again, I'm I'm not I'm not saying this is wrong, but what I'm saying is oftentimes church doesn't feel like a family because Sunday morning can make it feel kind of standoffish. And and and so when we were talking about this plant, the idea was to have a sanctuary set up with tables that people would sit at, and they would sit around the tables, and they would have communion together, and then we would have uh someone teaching, and then we would have discussion because because that's that's how I think people grow and learn. Because here's the other thing I know is sometimes I'm gonna say stuff that's gonna offend you, and I might not get a chance to talk to you about it. And and your last interaction might be, well, that guy said that from the pulpit, I'm never going back there again. But but but the point is I think that that's can be negative because I'd rather talk about it. Because this is what scripture is, it's supposed to speak into our lives. And this idea of being a family. We don't use that word lightly. Because here's the thing we all have problems, right? We all have problems with our family. But but the family of God, the church as a whole, is supposed to be different. Ephesians 4, 1 through 6, Paul writes this. Says, as a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, and just as you were called to one hope, when you were called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. That's the point. And again, going back to this conversation Paul had with Peter, Peter was doing what he thought was best, and Paul reminded him listen, you're missing the point. Christ has come for all.

One Lord, One Faith, One Family

SPEAKER_01 29:05

Everyone deserves a seat at the table because the one who sits at the head invited them.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

This is what the church is supposed to be.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

I explained it a couple weeks ago and and I still think it's true. Why why go through this? Why this message? Why now? Because I think that God has a big plan for us, and I think that it's going to be necessary that you and I are all on the same page. Not just me, not just our leaders, but but the church as a whole. For over a hundred years, this church has been a light in this community. Who knows the amount of people that come to know Christ? And some of you have been here the whole time. You put your time in, you've invested energy, you've sacrificed so much.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

But it doesn't have to end there.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

We're still here, we're still a family, we're still focused on Christ. The mission is still the same, even if it looks a little different. The mission is to bring people to the knowledge of who Christ is. It doesn't mean we don't have problems, it doesn't mean that we won't butt heads, it doesn't mean that we won't make each other angry. Every good family fights. But what it means is at the end of the day, you and I are unified on Christ and Him crucified.

SPEAKER_00 31:02

Because that's the only thing that matters. That's the only thing that that's going to change the world around us.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

So wherever we find ourselves in the next couple months, the next couple years, my hope and my prayer is that we stay focused on the mission. We love each other with humility. We take care of each other. We provide for each other. We look at the community around us, and we we're burdened for the lost and the broken. Philippians 2 verses 1 through 5, Paul writes this, says, Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from this love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility value others above yourself, not looking to your own interest, but each of you to the interest of others in your relationship with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. In everything that we do, in every conversation that we have moving forward, and every decision that we make, in every ministry we participate in, in every way that we serve, give, or share the gospel, wait, may we have the mind of Christ in it all. So that's the question. What's keeping you from having the mind of Christ in all things? Maybe it's a person you need to give forgiveness to. Maybe it's a preference that you need to let go of. Maybe it's a conversation that that you had that you need to go back and and you need to correct it. I don't know what it is, but but I know for me my goal is to try to love people more like Jesus. I'm not always good at it. I am not. But but my goal and my hope and my prayer is that as a family here

What Blocks The Mind Of Christ

SPEAKER_01 34:00

at the Refocus Christian Church in Follandie, West Virginia, that the way that we love each other is so evident to the world that it's life-changing, it's transformation, uh, transformational for people, that we love each other in the way that Christ loves his church. Jesus died on the cross and resurrected from the grave so that you and I could be saved. That's what makes this work.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

That's what unites us.