Galatians 1

It's a fine line to walk between being socially and culturally relevant on one hand and being true to the Gospel on the other. It's a line that many churches today have crossed and don't even realize it. I don't know what it was that the Galatians were turning toward when Paul wrote this letter, but I can see many churches in our society turning to the gospel of income (more money means we can serve God better), the gospel of construction (more space means we can serve God better), the gospel of emotions (if we make people feel good about themselves, they'll find God), the gospel of Bible knowledge (if I know more Bible verses, I'll know God), and many other false doctrines. This doesn't mean that we should be in a church where the members give their tithe or in a church with space for growth or a church that makes you happy, it just means that we need to be careful to not allow those things to get out ahead of being a church focused on sharing the Gospel.

It seems like every day almost that you hear of a church leader somewhere that's being accused of a crime, charged with a crime, or confessing to a crime. Sure, church leaders are humans and they are sinners just like the rest of us, but I still wonder if there is not a correlation between the downfall of these leaders and the lack of focus on the gospel that is becoming so prevalent in our society today. And this transition of focus then creates a situation whereby man is trying to direct the path of the church and man is appointing the leaders of the church and man is trying to please himself with the message of the church. Of course that is doomed to fail. Man, simply put, is a failure; only the redemption of God can change that, and by extension, only the perfection of God can direct the church properly.

Paul makes it clear to the reader that he is not sent by men, that no one thought this theology up on his own, and that he is not concerned with men think of him personally. He was assigned a task by Jesus Himself and he intends to see it through. In order to be sure that he was focused on the right thing and not just becoming a mouthpiece for the apostles, he secluded himself to study for three years before he went to Jerusalem to meet Peter.

Can you claim the same focus in your ministry? Are you following God alone or are you trying to please the men of your church? Have you taken the time to evaluate your message and found it to be clearly from God and not from man? These are the tough questions that we must wrestle with. It's okay to say the same thing as your pastor or others in the church. Paul preached the same Gospel as Peter. It's not okay if you preach the message just because it's what a man told you to say. You must be sure that it is the Word of God.