"'Surely not, Lord!' Peter replied. 'I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.' The voice spoke to him a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'" (Acts 10:14, 15, NIV)
To say that the "Christian Faith" has undergone acculturation over the centuries is a gross understatement. It began in earnest in the 4th Century and rapidly gained momentum in the succeeding centuries. I don't blame Constantine too much, but his mother did contribute greatly to the process. Then there was the complicit Catholic Church as well as many expressions of the "Protestant" traditions. History is the best witness to all of this.
The Gentile acculturation of the Church is a sort of reverse of the scene of our text. Many of the Jewish converts of the First Century wanted, "the Faith of Jesus," to be confined to the Jews, or at least to those who embraced Judaism. There was no, "You have heard it said,..but I say to you"; therefore, it seems to me that Peter had a choice here. He either could have persisted in the errant Hebrew thought, though not Biblical, that God had little to do with the Gentile Nations, or he could obey the vision on that roof top. Peter chose obedience. He got out of his "comfort zone" and went to Cornelius, went into his house, and shared Jesus with those present. The Gentile "world" was in. Aren't you thankful?!?
The call to you and me today is to examine continually the acculturation invasion of the Church which began so many centuries ago. Yes, you know it. Read the Bible voluminously. I promise the Church that this is the only way, I repeat, the only way to combat acculturation. Whether white man, black man, Jew, Arab, Asian, whoever, no culture can "claim" our Lord Jesus Christ and His Words for their unique domain. Jesus is King of the Universe, Savior of the world, Head of the Church. The invitation to all people groups still stands today as it did to Cornelius, his household, fellow soldiers and friends, "Come to Me, all who are............."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I praise You, Who are, as Peter told the gathering at Cornelius' house, "....Lord of all." Amen.
********************
Thanks for any prayers for yesterday's DC Mission. I might say that the traffic was the worst I have seen in years.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
