Barriers

Breaking Down Ethnic Walls

A major breakthrough in race relations is described in Acts 10. For years a virtual wall between Jews and Gentiles had hampered the apostles in sharing Jesus with the Gentile world. But when Peter met Cornelius—an officer of Rome's occupation troops in Palestine—two conversions took place: Cornelius, his family, and his friends came to faith; and Peter came to realize that God wants Gentiles in the church.

God easily could have used Philip the evangelist (see Acts 8:5) to bring the gospel to Cornelius. After all, he lived in Caesarea and had already shown his willingness to share the gospel across ethnic lines. But no, God called Peter to bring His message to the Roman centurion. Apparently He wanted to break down barriers against Gentiles in Peter's heart.

Here is how Peter saw Cornelius:

• Living in Caesarea, Roman military capital of Palestine (Acts 10:1).
• A centurion, commander of one hundred occupying Roman troops (10:1).
• Of the Italian Regiment, all men from Italy (10:1).
• Gentile (10:1).
• Unclean, like the unclean animals of the Old Testament dietary laws (10:11–16).
• Unlawful for a Jew to visit, as he was from another nation (10:28).
• Uncircumcised, therefore not right to eat with (11:3).

In Peter's mind, these factors disqualified Cornelius from serving him dinner, let alone coming to faith. But Peter was following a “Jewish gospel.”

God's intention had been that Hebrews would treat their Gentile neighbors cordially (Num. 35:15; Deut. 10:19; Ezek. 47:2). Of course, He also charged His people to exclude heathen practices, particularly idolatry (Lev. 18:24–19:4; Deut. 12:29–31). Intermarriage was condemned, though sometimes allowed (compare Ex. 34:16; Deut. 7:3; Ezra 9:12; 10:2–44; Neh. 10:30). But the main concern was moral purity.

Through rabbinic tradition strict separation became the rule. By Peter's day, four hundred years of Greek and Roman oppression had only hardened Jewish resolve to avoid as much contact as possible with foreigners.

Peter and the other Jewish believers brought these attitudes with them into the church, which made it almost impossible for them to reach out to Gentiles.

Here is how God saw Cornelius:

• Devout (Acts 10:2).
• A God-fearer, along with his household (10:2).
• Generous to the poor (10:2).
• A man of prayer whose prayers and alms were received by God (10:2, 4).
• Obedient to God's angel (10:7–8).
• Cleansed by God, so not unclean (10:15).
• Crucial for Peter to visit (10:5, 19–20).

God's view of Cornelius was a contrast to Peter's. Because of Christ, God was ready to throw the doors of faith wide open to Gentiles: “What God has cleansed you must not call common”.He sternly declared to Peter (10:9–16). Because of Christ, the centurion could be “cleansed” from sin and be acceptable to God. God broke down the wall in Peter's heart by pouring out the Holy Spirit on these Gentile believers (10:44–45).

Attitudes of prejudice and legalism trouble the church today just as they did the early church. But true believers must seek out all people, look at them from God's perspective, love them for the gospel's sake, and rejoice over those who respond in faith.

For more on this topic, see OBSTACLES, “Overcoming Obstacles—with the Lord's Help,”.