Submitted by: Submitted by edwardnew
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Words: 2350
Pages: 10
Category: Spirituality
Date Submitted: 09/18/2015 10:37 AM
Rev. Edward S. New
Galatians 2
August 23, 2015
We are going to start
off this morning with a kind of experiment.
You can decide if the test is accurate or not. For this experiment, all
you need to do is take your index finger and write a capital letter E on
your forehead. If you would, go ahead and do that right now. Write a
capital letter E on your forehead.
Now for the test: which way did you draw that E? If you drew it
with the lines to your right, which would mean that you drew the letter
E so that you could read it if you were looking at it from inside your
forehead, psychologists say that means that you tend to find yourself
in highpower situations and you tend to expect other people to adjust
to your point of view.
On the other hand, if you drew that E on your forehead with the
lines to the left, which would mean that you drew that letter E so that
other people could read it if they were standing there in front of you,
psychologists say that means that you tend to be more
grouporiented and you are more willing to adjust to other people’s
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points of view.
How did you do on that test? The basic idea behind that test, of
course, is that when we have dealings with other people, how do we
negotiate the differences that exist between us? There’s my way, and
there’s your way – so, how do we handle those differences? Which
side wins out?
The reality was that the same sort of debate was taking place
back in the first century at the church in Galatia. But instead of
arguing about
who wins, they were fighting about
who was welcome.
You see, the apostle Paul had founded the church in Galatia. And it
turned out that that church was made up primarily, or maybe even
entirely, of Gentiles, of nonJews, who had come to put their faith in
Jesus.
And at one point Pe
ter, one of Jesus’ disciples who went on to
essentially become the leader of the Christian movement, decided to ...