Missionaries: Continue Learning and Growing

This is commentary on Sabbath School Lesson 9, A Pillar of Mission: The Apostle Peter.

Perhaps one of the biggest dangers for Christians (who are all missionaries) is that we stop learning and we stop growing spiritually. The temptation is great to rest on knowledge already acquired, on understandings and interpretations that have served us so well, on methods and programs that have been successful, and on past successes themselves. The temptation is great to settle into a comfort zone after spending so many years "working for the Lord."

This week's study on the apostle Peter appears to illustrate how God works to keep His people moving forward. I've heard it said that to remain in one place is really to go backwards; or in biology, to stop growing is to start dying. When Jesus commissioned his disciples (whether in Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15, or Acts 1:8), he said, "Go."

The study for the week begins with one of the more controversial passages in the gospels, Matthew 16:18 which reads,

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (ESV)

The traditional Adventist interpretation is that the "this rock" does not refer to Peter but to Christ. And certainly there is some biblical support for it. But after going through a number of Bible commentaries and listening to a couple other Sabbath School lesson discussions for this week, to me the natural reading seems to be the best interpretation; that is, "this rock" does refer primarily to Peter, and perhaps more precisely, to Peter's confession, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16 ESV).

Adventists have preferred the former interpretation probably because we don't subscribe to the concept of apostolic succession, and the above passage has been abused (in our view) to support the idea. On the other hand, could we be abusing this same passage from the other side by continuing to encourage rejection of the natural reading? More than one commentary notes that the Greek wordplay between "Peter" and "rock" often used to support our position would not have been in Aramaic, what Jesus' would have spoken. Perhaps we still have things to learn and unlearn...

When Jesus said, "And on this rock I will build my church," was He appointing Peter as the foremost apostle or was He simply stating what would happen in the early church? My view is that it was the latter. Jesus foresaw how future events would unfold and stated what would happen. Peter, probably because of his personality, became the de facto leader of the sprouting movement. Later on it appears that James (brother of Jesus) would end up leading in Jerusalem while Paul became a leader to the Gentiles.

Even though the church was growing among the Jewish people, that was only a small part of Jesus' intended mission. Peter is again called upon to expand God's work -- this time among the Gentiles. This required a shattering of some of the bedrock and foundations upon which Peter's entire worldview and identity were built. The requirements of ritual purity, the chosen-ness and the setting apart of Israel from all other nations were directly from God. They were commandments and covenants directly from God. How could someone violate them?

Yet God was the One who came to Peter and gave him a new command. How could God seemingly rescind earlier commands of His? The way I see it, and I think how Peter saw it, was that the commands are not the foundations themselves. Commands are tools that point to the foundation. Commands are God's concessions to limited human thought to (re)direct our vision towards Him. The foundation is God Himself, His love, and His desire to redeem and restore all people to Himself.

After going through some change, human tendency is to think enough has been done -- that it is okay to rest and take a break -- let someone else carry on the torch of change. Perhaps that is what happened with Peter when Paul came around as recorded in Galatians. As change studies have noted, change does not stick once pressure for change is relaxed. Things probably won't revert all the way back to how they were, but the pendulum will swing away from the edge of change.

The mission given by Jesus to Christians is that of change. We proclaim that the kingdom of God is both at hand and is here. We proclaim a power of change for human nature. We can proclaim all we want, but if we don't exhibit change in our own lives and in our own spheres within this world, the kingdom and power we proclaim is of little effect. We must continue to learn and grow. We must always be critical (in the good sense of the word) of what we know, challenging our beliefs, to see if they still reflect and lead to the foundation that is found in God and His love for the world. We must always be on the lookout for improved ways of knowing and doing that better represent God and His power in this world.