It was God’s plan all along to save Gentiles, but the Jewish believers had not yet realized and embraced that. Luke highlighted that the circumcision party, a group of Jewish believers who thought you had to become Jewish to be saved, even objected to Peter’s eating with Gentiles. Just as God had prepared Peter to include Gentiles in the new covenant people of God, the Jews in Jerusalem had to be prepared as well.

They weren’t ready to bring people of different backgrounds and cultures into the Church yet. We can sometimes be the same way. God wants to save all kinds of people, and His plan is to reach them through the Church. So, our churches need to be places where we welcome others who aren’t like us, trusting that God will save them with the power of the Gospel.

How does your perspective need to change to sharing the love of Jesus with people who are not like you?