Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Galatians 2:6-10 (NIV)
6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. 7 On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. 8 For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9 James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.
In 1 Corinthians 12:27, we learn that “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it”. We are one! Yet, at the same time, we are all also called to varied ministries within the body of Christ and the world around us. Paul was gifted and called to minister to the Gentiles (all those who were not Jewish). Peter was sent to the people of Israel. Both carried the same message but they were sent to different audiences. Do you ever notice this in the church? We belong to the same group of believers yet we have different passions, different interests, different gifts, and skills. Our audiences may be different but our message is always the same. Today, rejoice that God has made us all a little different, yet he calls us all his precious children.