We We Hide Stretchy Pants
“Religion is the default mode of the human heart.” Tim Keller
One of my favorite movies is Nacho Libre! Ignacio is a monk that has a secret dream and hobby becoming a wrestler. But the whole thing is wrapped in secrecy, shame, and religious pressure. Why because he’s a very religious ma living in a monastery—and it’s everything you would guess. His religious world feels rigid, awkward, and disconnected from real life. Rules. Robes. Bad food. Strange expectations. Everyone seems trapped in a system. When he finally gets caught by one of the orphans trying in his wrestling outfit he says maybe the greatest line in the movie:
“Sometimes a man likes to wear stretchy pants in his room. It’s for fun.”
Maybe your picture of Christianity is Nacho Libre. A guy in religious clothes sneaking around, feeling guilty, trying to do enough good to make up for what he knows is wrong. And for a lot of people, that is religion: look clean, hide the mess, do enough good things to balance the bad things. Some of you hear ‘Christianity’ and you picture weird religious rules.
Like Ignacio says: “It is in the bible: Not to wrestle your neighbor!”
Don’t eat this. Don’t wear that. Don’t laugh too hard. Don’t ask questions. Don’t sit with the wrong people. Don’t enjoy your life. Just look miserable and call it holiness.
But in Acts 11 we’re going to see:
CHRISTIANITY ISN’T ABOUT PRESENTING YOUR MORAL PERFECTION BUT RECEIVING GOD’S INVITATION.
Sometimes Christians are the culprit: We block God's ambition to bring salvation to those farthest from him because we’re concerned with rules that aren’t even God’s rules.
TITLE “GET OUT OF GOD’S WAY”
Why we hide stretchy pants.
In Acts 11, the early church almost misses a move of God because some people are more committed to their religious comfort zones than God’s actual mission. Peter eats with outsiders, Gentiles receive the gospel, and instead of celebrating, the insiders criticize. But Peter’s whole point is: God is bringing people in. Why would we stand in His way?
In Acts 11 God is building a new kind of people through Jesus, and our job is not to block it with man-made rules, critical spirits, or passive resistance.
Acts 11:1-4 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. [2] So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, [3] “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” [4] But Peter began and explained it to them in order:
Acts 11:9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’
The circumcision party was a jewish group within the early church that wanted Gentiles who converted to Christianity to first become jewish with all its practices before they would allow them to become Christians. But this is condemned and confronted over and again in the New Testament.
Let’s actually consider what they are concerned about. Is it even biblical?
Leviticus 20:24–26 emphasizes that God set Israel apart from other nations.
Deuteronomy 7:3 prohibits intermarriage with foreign nations
There is not a single verse prohibiting eating with Gentiles in the entire old testament. This was added in the extra-biblical Jewish writings:
1 Jubilees “Separate yourself from the gentiles and do not eat with them.”
The Mishnah “The dwelling-places of gentiles are unclean.”
Jubilees 22:16 “Eat not with them … for their works are unclean.”
You know what all of these quotes have in common? They aren’t in the Bible. They are extra biblical literature.
01. DON’T BE A LEGALIST BE A BIBLICIST.
Legalism adds rules to the Bible. One of the most common mechanisms of legalism is what Jewish tradition actually calls "building a fence around the Torah." If the law says don't do X, then we'll also prohibit anything that might lead to X.
Jesus confronted this directly when he said to the Pharisees:
Mark 7:9 "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions.”
Where are you tempted to put a FENCE around God’s Word?
Church traditions
Stand for the reading
Certain clothing
Smoke machines
Certain amount of prayer
Catholic Parents concerned about you getting baptized the second time
Association with the wrong churches or movements
Hymns versus chorus, music
Ben Mammet it must be nice to have the luxury to split churches over songs selection when the Chinese church is just trying not to get arrested for singing to Jesus
The problem with fencing God’s Word is that GOD DOESN’T NEED OUR HELP—WE NEED HIS!
OR TO PROTECT OURSELVES FORM OTHER PEOPLE sinning against US.
A spouse can do this to buds and wife
It’s not that the other spouse who send is willing to embrace boundaries that are healthy for discipleship, it’s that the husband and wife is imposing, realistic rules to protect themselves from them, sitting against them again
OFTEN WE DO IT TO PROTECT OUR APPEARANCE Religion is exhausting because you are always trying to look better than you are.
But Christianity begins when you stop presenting your résumé to God and start receiving grace from God and following the gentle way of Jesus.
Matthew 11:28–30: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
People often say “I thought I’d be struck down at the church entrance.” The thinking is that you have to “clean yourself up” to come to church and be with God and his people. But that’s exactly backwards. That’s like saying “I need to clean myself up to take a bath”. The point is that you can come as you are. The world and it’s expectation has worn you down. The sin in your heart has brought enough shame. It’s time to come before Jesus and let the blood he spilled on the cross for your sin make you clean.
The problem with legalism is not that they have a better grasp of the Gospel, it’s that they do not understand the Gospel.
The problem with legalists is not that they are too biblical it’s that they aren’t biblical enough.
V.1 the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
Notice that they are so concerned with what they don’t want Peter doing, that they miss what God wanted them to be doing!
God had an assignment for the church that this so-called “circumcision party” is preventing! To bring the Word of God to the gentiles! This was the message Peter tells them and angel of God declared to Cornelius:
Acts 11:14–16 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ [15] As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. [16] And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
Write this down: Legalists are so focused on what their rules prohibit that they miss what God’s Word commands.
Some people think legalists are too concerned with the Bible. That’s not correct. The truth is they are not concerned enough with it! They are focused on their own agendas and then miss God’s heart and ultimately disobey commands. Simply put: Legalists are not extra-obedient to God, they are disobedient to God.
How to NOT be a legalist:
Know your Bible.
Apply it to your life.
Resist superstition and fear of man.
Don’t make your goal “hard truth” make your goal God’s heart.
02. CRITICISM KILLS. CULTIVATION BUILDS.
Acts 11:2-3 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, [3] “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
The Circumcision party accused him of “eating with Gentiles”. Notice they didn’t ask any questions. They jump to conclusions. They make accusations
“Criticized” διακρίνω Same word as discern, interestingly. Related: Judge.
There is a fine line between “discernment” and “criticism”. There are many people with the so-called gift “discernment” that may just be critical. Discernment is a gift, but if not wielded in the Lord’s Way, it becomes divisive and even dangerous. Be very careful of “the gift of discernment”. If used immaturely it
Every gift of the spirit can become a weapon of the flesh if it is not governed by the Holy Spirit.
Prophecy without humility becomes presumption.
Teaching without love becomes arrogance.
Leadership without servanthood becomes lordship.
Exhortation without gentleness becomes bullying.
Mercy without truth becomes compromise.
Generosity without authenticity becomes strings-attached giving.
How Satan hi-Jacks discernment
Criticism: (Matthew 7:1–5; James 4:11–12; Romans 14:3–4; John 12:48)
Divides/Tears Down Leaders + The Church
Takes God’s Place In Condemnation
Comes from fear, anger, insecurity
Discernment: (Acts 11:1, Romans 14:3-4, James 4:11, Matthew 7:1, John 12:48)
Builds up Leaders + the church.
Acknowledges sinfulness before God
Comes from humility, wisdom, and love.
A greater threat than external opposition is internal division!
“If the enemy can’t destroy the Church from the outside, he will divide it from the inside.”
CALVINISM VERSE ARMINIANISM
RC Sproul / Billy Graham someone asked in light of their strong diss agreement: “Dr. Sproul will you see Billy Graham in heaven?” After a long tense pause, Sproul said, “No.” and they said “For Billy Graham will be so near the throne of God, and shall be so far away—there is no chance I will be able to see Billy Graham.”
Don’t divide the church that Jesus died to unite.
THIS APPLIES TO FAMILIES:
Husbands are you criticizing and tearing down your wife?
Wives, is your tone with your husband critical? Do you belittle him?
Parents are criticizing or encouraging our kids?
Church members are you critical of your church or other churches?
Believers, are we more focused on smearing the culture or praying for the culture?
DON’T CRITICIZE, CULTIVATE.
We live in an under encouraged and overly discouraged world today!
Proverbs 14:1 the wise woman builds her house, the foolish tears it down with her own hands
THE GRASS IS GREEN WHERE YOU WATER IT
EXPLORING COMMUNITY TEXT COMMUNITY
TEAMS TEXT TEAN
GIVE TEXT GIVE
GARDEN 101 TEXT 101
30777
03. SERVE DON’T SLOW GOD’S MISSION.
In v 5-16 Peter explains that while praying in Joppa he saw a repeated heavenly vision of unclean animals and heard God say, “What God has made clean, do not call common,” after which the Spirit sent him to Cornelius’s house without distinction, where the Gentiles heard the saving message and received the Holy Spirit just as the Jews had at Pentecost.
Acts 11:17–18 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” [18] When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Here’s what Peter is saying: The Gospel is a GIFT for all people!
Say: GIFT!
PEOPLE OF ALL BACKGROUND CAN:
Turn in repentance means turning away from sin and turning to Christ’s way.
Receive eternal salvation means being saved from God’s wrath and judgement after death and given the new life in this life.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit means God’s Spirit dwells in you, leads you guides you.
Skeptic: Have you received this gift?
Maybe moved to Arizona looking for a better life, a better future, maybe even a better version of yourself. But what if the thing you’re really looking for is not just a bigger house, a lower mortgage, or a fresh start?
MY fear is that you if you Miss the GIFT you’ve assumed Christianity was about God wanting something from you rather than God giving salvation TO YOU!
Saint: Are you sharing this?
Because notice Peter’s concern here:
V. 17 who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
We don’t want to stand in God’s way!
Don’t Block What God Is Building!
Sometimes this is risky.
We need more Gospel risk.
Share the Gospel boldly
Do you believe in demons?
50 people Moving 1230 service for two months
🔔1PM ALARM pray for your ONE!
Boston