On hearing that, I was conflicted. Yes, our car has Florida plates, but I am a fellow Canadian and I should be left alone. But my wife is an American, and should I not gladly stand up for her?
As I pondered this wrinkle in our Canadian vacation, I thought how much my thinking was like that of the Apostle Peter when a contingent of Jewish believers from Jerusalem came to visit the church in Galatia. The Jerusalem contingent consisted of members of the circumcision party, who insisted that Gentiles had to first become Jews through circumcision before becoming Christians. It had been Peter’s habit to fellowship and dine with Gentile Christians as brothers in Christ. When the Jerusalem contingent showed up, he distanced himself from the Gentile Christians for fear of what his fellow Jews might think.
The Apostle Paul saw what Peter did and chastised him publicly because his actions were not in keeping with the truth of the gospel. “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew,” Paul said sternly, “how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” He later wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Being identified with Christ is not popular these days, and the potential for persecution in this country is on the increase. A Christian might be tempted to follow Peter’s poor example and distance himself from Christ in certain situations. For example, many Christians are diligent to give thanks to God for their meals at home, but do we also give thanks for our meals when dining in public? We speak freely about the things of Christ in the company of believers, but do we nuance our speech in public so as not to appear to be one of those “crazy Christians?” Who we are in Christ is not a costume that we put on in certain situations and discard in others. Your new identity is in Christ and people should be able to see the evidence of Christ in you.
Christ warned his disciples, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
