Ever wonder why Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, spent so much time in synagogues? There were Greeks who attended synagogue services in the cities he visited, and Paul was able to evangelize them along with the Jews there:
Acts 14:1 (ESV) Now at Iconium [Paul and Barnabas] entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.
These Greeks were called “God-Fearers.” Why did they attend Jewish services? There were some personal drawbacks to worshiping their pagan gods: there was legalized (and endorsed) adultery in their culture which damaged families, gods were prayed to without corresponding answers, and there was a plethora of gods for various purposes to keep track of. Judaism offered a much more moral and stable faith with a God who was there, who listened, who answered prayer, and the Jews seemed happier and more confident in their faith. So, we see Greeks attending synagogues. It turns out the God-Fearers became very important in the development of the early church.
These Greeks learned from the teachings at the synagogues and as a result lived lives similar in many respects to the Jews. Many of the women became Jewish converts but only a few of the men did due to the required circumcision. Men didn’t want to submit themselves to the pain and possible infection of the ritual.
So, since most synagogues had Gentile attenders, they were a perfect source for converts to the new Christian faith. Christianity carried the same moral values, prayed to the same God, but did not have the requirement of circumcision.
A problem arose, however, when the Jewish converts would not eat with the newly converted Greeks. Jewish dietary rules were stricter than those of the pagan culture, and Jews would not eat at the same table as the Greeks who ate strangled animals. James’ church in Jerusalem was still very Jewish in its culture and much of it’s practices, so when they heard the Gentile converts were still eating food which was strangled, they sent representatives who reacted very poorly. This is described in Paul’s letter to the Galatian churches some of which are mentioned in Acts 14: Lystra, Antioch, and Iconium.
In Paul’s letter to the Galatian church, he describes this problem in which even Peter was involved:
Gal. 2:11-14 (ESV) But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Since the church could not continue on as one body if some refused to eat with others within the assembly, a decision needed to be made. This brought on the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15. The verdict of the apostles and elders there was this:
Acts. 15:28-29 (ESV) “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
This decision told James’ parishioners and the Judaizers who believed one must become Jewish to be saved, that they were in the wrong to require the Mosaic Law be placed on the Gentile converts. It also kept the very moral standards which attracted the God-Fearers to begin with.
Another problem with the Greek converts was they didn’t understand much of the Jewish terminology and practices mentioned in church sermons. The church made an attempt to teach them, and some set up a three year “school” to do this. This only opened the door to the Judaizers once again to push their views on these converts.
Why is this important?
I think we can learn a couple of things from this. First we need to understand the mindset of those entering into a church for the first time or hearing the gospel clearly presented for the first time. This must seem foreign to them.
A friend of mine was so unfamiliar with Christianity after first accepting Christ she called her Bible “the Book the pastor gave me.”
It is our job to make Christianity understandable even to those least informed about it. The other side of the coin is that we must understand the culture and mindset of those who have entered our churches, our spheres of influence, and those we’ve met in society. Our Christianity must include understanding and to be understandable. I have a saying when I teach: “If you don’t understand something well enough to explain it to someone else, then you don’t really understand it.” We need to understand our faith and those with whom we share it.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 