Black and White Make Gray

I tend to be a very black-and-white thinker. There is the correct way to load the dishwasher and then there is the way everyone else in my family does it. Pink is the best Starburst flavor and anyone who favors yellow is simply wrong. There are dog lovers and then there are those who have never had a dog.

I’m willing to admit that there may be times when such a black-and-white perspective is unnecessarily divisive. However, there are issues over which it is necessary to make unequivocal distinctions. Paul’s letter to the Galatians forcefully demonstrates that the gospel is one such issue. I’m confident that Paul would not die to defend his preferred Starburst flavor, but he would – and did – die for the gospel.

Our salvation is either entirely dependent on Christ’s work (and none of our own) or it is solely dependent on our work (and nothing from Christ). It is black and white. And the glorious good news of the gospel is that what Jesus has done for us is the necessary, sufficient, and complete work that guarantees for all who trust in him what we could never attain apart from him:  restoration to and a promised eternity with our good and loving creator God.  

For those like me, it is all too easy to inappropriately carry forward black-and-white thinking to issues that are related to this black-and-white gospel. In Galatians 2, Paul introduces a situation that has significant gospel implications but is not as black and white as the gospel itself. 

In Galatians 2:3, Paul unashamedly shares these intimate details about Titus:

Titus…was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 

From this, we might think that Christian Gentiles should never be circumcised. However, we read this in Acts 16:3:

[Paul] took [Timothy] and circumcised him…for…his father was a Greek.

Here we have the same guy (Paul), with the same facts (a Greek companion), taking completely opposite actions: Timothy was circumcised, Titus was not. Jesus’ work for us in the gospel is as black-and-white as can be. But it turns out that what we do in living out the gospel may become gray. 

How did Paul make these decisions regarding his uncircumcised companions? With Titus, Paul discerned that his circumcision would confuse the gospel. He did not circumcise Titus so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you (Galatians 2:5). With Timothy, Paul discerned that his circumcision would remove obstacles in the advancement of the gospel. Paul did circumcise Timothy because of the Jews who were in those places(Acts 16:3).

These examples provide invaluable insight into what the prevailing perspective must be to guide our decisions: faithfulness to and the advancement of the gospel! But this is where black and white make gray. Though it’s easier to force matters into black-and-white buckets and let that guide our decisions, such an approach will unnecessarily and ironically create division and separation in the name of the gospel when Christ’s death in the gospel was for our unity (Ephesians 2:14)! 

Should I send my kids to public school or private school or should I homeschool? Should I vote Republican or Democrat? Should I speak up in defense of biblical sexuality and gender in the workplace?

All of these decisions could have gospel implications, but none are as black and white as the gospel itself. Therefore, we must make our personal decisions seeking that which will best serve the gospel, as best as we are able to discern. Yet, at the same time, we must acknowledge that others in seemingly similar situations may draw different conclusions. We must be willing to set aside our personal rights for the sake of the gospel (like Timothy being circumcised) while also embracing the freedom of others to make different decisions than us.

Perhaps it is not what we do but why we do it that matters most. May we be diligent, then, in seeking to ground the “why” of our decisions in the gospel. And may we be gracious with others, not presuming to know their “why” solely based on “what” we see.

~ Andy Barker grew up in Boston, Ma. and relocated to Charlotte in 2008. He currently serves as an elder at LIFE Fellowship. He and his wife Melanie have five children and have attended LIFE Fellowship for ten years.