Galatians 2 - Peter Gives in to Peer Pressure

Paul Opposes Cephas

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

We have all heard of the concept of "peer pressure".  The idea is that someone will do something they wouldn't normally do if they are pressured by those around them.  People succumb to peer pressure when their desire to be liked or to conform to those around them trumps their true core values.

Today Paul tells the story of how Peter gave into peer pressure.  Paul says "Cephas", which is Peter's Jewish name, used to eat with Gentiles, but when "certain men" came from James he separated himself.  Why? Because he was afraid of those "Judaizers", also called "those who belonged to the circumcision group".  Since Peter was a leader in the church, he was concerned about how his association with the Gentiles might affect his reputation back in Jerusalem.

Paul sees through Peter's hypocrisy and rebukes him publicly.  His fear was that through Peter's example others might follow this type of behavior, as it seemed they were already doing.  Paul knew this would be like a cancer in the community, and antithetical to the gospel that God did not show favoritism to anyone.  When Peter had his vision of eating the "clean" and "unclean" animals he says this in Acts 10:28-29,

“You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection."

So Peter knew God had accepted the Gentiles and did not require them to be circumcised. But Peter still was more worried about these men, and what they thought about him than God.

Peer pressure is a powerful force in any culture and those in the church are not immune to it.  Christians can face peer pressure both within and outside the church.  The only way one can stand up to peer pressure is when we realize the only one we need to please is God.  This is what Paul calls "crucifying the flesh". Crucifying the flesh is dying to the need to be accepted by others, or giving in to pressure to be something other than what Christ calls us to be.  We all thought peer pressure ended in high school, but that is not the case.