Asking for a Friend: Does Following Jesus Mean I Have to Lose My Cultural Identity?

Jamaal Williams

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.
12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party.
13 Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

14 But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews? 
15 We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,”
16 and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified.

17 But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not!
18 If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

–Galatians 2:11-21

You become family by faith in Christ, not by culture, customs, or code switching.

1. Fear Fractures Fellowship (Galatians 2:11–13)

• Peter’s fear of man caused him to withdraw from Gentile believers, breaking fellowship.
• His actions influenced others, even Barnabas, showing how leaders shape culture.
• Culture shaped by fear undermines gospel unity and creates unspoken “conditions” for belonging.

2. Salvation by Culture Distorts the Gospel (Galatians 2:14–16)

• Paul rebukes Peter for not living in line with the gospel, even though he still believed it.
• Justification is by faith in Jesus, not by cultural conformity or works of the law.
• Adding anything to faith for justification distorts the gospel and excludes the vulnerable.

3. Justification Frees Us to Fully Belong (Galatians 2:17–21)

• Believers are united with Christ in His death and resurrection.
• Identity is found in Christ, not in ethnicity, class, or background.
• Justification by faith gives confidence and belonging that transcends culture.

4. Application

• Make Christ Your Life, Not Your Culture
• Protect the Gospel and Protect People
• Be a Grace-Shaped, Culture-of-Cultures Church