Writings: Self-Avowed Practicing Gentiles

By: Dr. Gregory S. Neal

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, or in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:23-29)

In the early Church there was a separation, a division, a disagreement over the inclusion of Self-Avowed Practicing Gentiles.

During its very earliest years, the church was mostly comprised of Jews. This makes perfect sense: Jesus was a Jew, and the church proclaimed him the messiah – the anointed one of God. All of Jesus’ original disciples were Jews. Jesus spoke with, preached to, and taught Jews who lived in the Hebraic context of Jewish society and culture in Judea. But, because of the eclectic nature of the ancient world, and especially of the eastern half of the Roman Empire, Jesus was also heard by non-Jews: by Samaritans, who were the half-siblings of the Jewish people; by Greeks, who lived in the area as merchants, teachers, cultural movers and shakers, and administrators for the Empire; and also by Romans, mostly the occupying armies and Imperial representatives along with their families and servants. When those non-Jews heard Jesus, many of them found what he said appealing, encouraging, transforming, and liberating. In Jesus, these people heard the Word of God being proclaimed and embodied, and they wanted to be a part of the message and the messenger; they wanted to be part of the community of believers that was growing by leaps and bounds through the power of God’s Spirit.
 
Most of these early Self-Avowed Practicing Gentiles were known as “God-Fearers” – they were gentiles who believed in God, studied the Torah, accepted the revelation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and were often at varying points along the journey toward conversion as Jews; but, they were not yet Jews. They may have ceased worshipping other gods, learned some Hebrew, adopted some of the Jewish cultural and legal conventions, and were observing some of the Jewish religious festivals, but they were often not yet fully members of the Jewish Community. The men weren’t circumcised, and most were not keeping the dietary regulations. As a result, many of the early Jewish Christians were uncomfortable around these God-Fearers. They accepted that Self-Avowed Practicing Gentiles would be present in the life of the church, would want to learn about Jesus, learn his teachings and his preaching, grow in grace and in faith, and even be baptized and join the church; all of this was mostly – though not entirely – celebrated. Some of the early Jewish Christians demanded that Self-Avowed Practicing Gentiles stop behaving as Gentiles and start behaving as Jews. They wanted the Gentiles to adopt the Jewish dietary regulations, the blood purity laws, the clothing regulations, and the behavior conventions regarding how women were treated. Gentiles could be accepted into the Church, but if they were really going to be participating members and leaders in the church, they would have to stop being Gentiles and adopt the practices of the Jews.
 
Some gentile-converts to Christianity did this, or tried to, but it was difficult. It required the men to be circumcised, it required all of them to stop eating foods they really liked, it required them to dress in certain ways, cut their hair – or not cut it – in certain ways, work in certain ways and not work on specific days, and otherwise follow cultural conventions that were largely foreign to them. Most could do a few of these things, but very few could do all of them.
 
And yet, the Church outside Judea and Galilee was quickly growing among Jews of the Diaspora and, even more-so, among Gentiles … and not only among those God-Fearers, but also among Gentiles who had never studied the scriptures, never learned the Law of Moses, never practiced any of the dietary regulations, observed the Jewish feast days, kept the sabbath, or been circumcised. Paul, in his missionary journeys in Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece, was making converts to Christianity from among those who were VERY MUCH still Self-Avowed Practicing Gentiles, and who had no intention of ever not being Self-Avowed Practicing Gentiles. Yes, they believed in Jesus; yes, they believed in Yahweh Elohim; yes, they accepted God’s grace and lived by faith; yes, they experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives; but, they still behaved as Gentiles and, moreover, it didn’t appear as though God had any interest in making them change or in stopping most of their gentile practices. Oh, yes, they didn’t practice idolatry anymore, but in all other particulars they were still, culturally and physically, Gentiles living in a Gentile world, doing Gentile things.
 
And THAT was what launched the first church split. The amazing thing was that, at the first General Conference that took place in Jerusalem, the Apostles agreed that these Gentiles Christians wouldn’t have to become Jews in order to be saved; they didn’t require circumcision nor the adoption of the Mosaic covenant, all they asked was that these Gentile converts refrain from eating certain foods in their presence. They didn’t object to Self-Avowed Practicing Gentiles leading congregations, or Gentile women in pastoral leadership, or families of mixed religious backgrounds. Self-Avowed Practicing Gentiles were fully-included, welcomed, and affirmed in the life of the Church. At least, that was the official line coming out of the First “General Conference” in Jerusalem.
 
Unfortunately, some of the early Jewish Christians didn’t like it, didn’t accept it, and continued to cause trouble. That’s what was happening in Galatia, and that’s what Paul was addressing in his letter when he affirmed that Gentiles could be completely, fully, and without question part of the Church without having to change. Paul asserts that God doesn’t have a pecking-order of preference that relegates the Self-Avowed Practicing Gentiles to second-class Citizenship.
 
Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. (Galatians 3:23-25)