What do you do when you’re pretty sure the leaders of the church have made a mistake? That was the dilemma that faced Roman Catholics back in the 1300’s and 1400’s, when different men claimed to be pope at the same time – after all, one of them had to be wrong. And American Presbyterians have called our leaders into question many times, from the New School/Old School controversy in the 19th century, to the Fundamentalist/Modernist division of the 20th century, to current debates over sexual freedom and the possibility of sanctification.

Well, in today’s passage Paul makes clear that we should not listen to leaders just because of who they are. Sure, Peter (also called “Cephus”), James and John were widely accepted to be “pillars” of the church in Jerusalem (2:9). Sure, they were apostles of God, all of whom wrote parts of the New Testament. But that didn’t mean that they didn’t make mistakes sometimes. In fact, as Paul will go on to explain later in this letter, these other apostles were wrong, at least for a short time, on a very important subject indeed – the question of whether Christians needed to practice the Old Testament requirement of circumcision.

So, what should we do when we think our leaders are in error? Well, as Paul pointed out in yesterday’s reading, we shouldn’t listen to falsehoods even if angels speak them (1:8). That means that we need to measure even the words of our most respected and most trusted leaders against the Scriptures, which will never lead us astray.

But we also need to remember that God provides different leaders for different places and times. Paul recognized that he had been sent to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been sent to the Jews (2:7). That means that the way our leaders explain the unchanging truth, and the parts of the unchanging truth that they choose to emphasize may differ based on when and where they are preaching. After all, the Presbyterians disputing evangelistic methods in the nineteenth century would have found our modern questions about sex simply unimaginable, just as we wonder why they got so worked up about using musical instruments or singing hymns instead of psalms in worship.

Yes, the key is to learn from our church leaders, as Paul did when he consulted the other apostles in Jerusalem (1:18, 2:1-2), but at the same time to reserve our ultimate allegiance for the truth of the gospel that is found in the Scriptures, a truth that applies to every place and time. That’s how we truly observe and practice the apostolic faith.

Galatians 1:18-2:10 (ESV)

18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.
19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.
20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!)
21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
24 And they glorified God because of me.

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.
2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.
3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in– who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery–
5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)– those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised
8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles),
9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.