Human on Human, both on Christ

"Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days." -- The apostle Paul

Admittedly, my imagination shoots to the clouds a little bit when I think about this meeting between 2 powerful guys that I really respect and have allowed to coach and mentor me in how I think and live. I really wish I could've been there.

 

...when Peter asked Paul to recount how his friend Jesus showed up on the Damascus road, and Peter excitedly answers with how Jesus showed up to him each time after Jesus' death, too.

...when Paul, with wide eyes, asked Peter all about his 3 years of walking with Jesus in the flesh.

...when Peter asked Paul what it was like to have such a dramatic shift in life, from killing disciples to making them.

...when Paul asked Peter what it was like to leave his fishing business and family to follow this controversial Rabbi.

 

What a moment of iron sharpening iron!

 

I wonder which of the 15 days it was that they had moments of confession to each other: Paul speaking with great anguish about his prideful supervision of faithful Stephen's stoning, or his angry march towards Damascus with intentions of violence against precious souls. And Peter matching it with his own tears and weeping as he recounts his 3 time refusal to acknowledge that he even knew Jesus in the midst of his friend;s darkest hours, or the time he lacked understanding so much that his Lord looked at him and saw Satan's hand at work through him. I wonder how long they cried together.

 

And I wonder when the crying stopped and they submitted once again to the redeeming and restoring work of Jesus in their life! Paul, with amazement, listening to Peter's story of "going back to work" fishing, and Jesus showing up on the beach to remind him of his call, and his belief in him! And Peter listening as Paul tells of all his guided moves by the Spirit of Jesus since those life-altering, life-giving friendships God sent to him through Ananias and the disciples in Damascus! I bet they were friends of Peters. "What a small world it is!" they might have said to each other.

 

The friendship and partnership didn't end there. 14 years later Paul went to Peter and other leaders of the Messiah Movement once again, moved by God to do so, letting them know of his call to take Christ's way of life to non-Jews. It stands out in my head that their partnership in Christ and their friendship in the Way was strong enough and important enough for Paul to confront Peter about Peter's insecurity in standing strong in the purity of Christ's call in the face of the Jews. Iron sharpening iron, indeed.

 

Sharing, confessing, celebrating, confronting, learning, teaching, growing, partnering...this is what my imagination says happened that 15 days.

 

And this is what I have been blessed to be a part of with the band of disciples that I run with here in Amarillo, TX. It is a fantastic group, and I am still amazed after 2 years of being here. They share with me, confess to me, celebrate me, confront me, learn from me, teach me, grow with me, and partner with me.

 

There is an element of attaching to each others pain that goes along with this kind of Christ-conforming, disciple-making friendship that makes life raw and real, transformation attainable and possible (as opposed to only theoretical and conceptual). I am immersed in this work on every side, and it is so real and practical that the language surrounding the idea of "new creation" that I find in the Bible jumps to life as I read about it...like God planned for this stuff to happen all along.

 

It's not always romantic and rosy, mind you. Nor is it always what we might call successful and productive. But when I'm faithful to the work of Christ, living out and witnessing His death, resurrection, and ascension story over and over again...it is paradoxically always romantic and rosy, successful and productive.

 

And it is the life you and I were born to live.