I used to think that there was strong uniformity from congregation to congregation within the church in the first century. Doesn’t everyone speak of “the first-century church”? I imagined a consistency of faith and practice from place to place.

If you hold that idea, let me point you to the oldest group of Christians in the world, the church in Jerusalem. This was the church that for years was led by the apostles themselves. James, the Lord’s brother, was a prominent leader in this church. The Jerusalem church was made up, in the beginning, of educated Jews, people who knew the Old Testament Scriptures well. They had a leg up on those who were new to the Word of God.

When Paul visits the church in Acts chapter 21, the church had been in existence for over 30 years. So it’s almost surprising to read this description: “Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.” (Acts 21:20) The Jews who were being converted in Jerusalem, thousands of them, remained zealous for the Law of Moses. We can see that they continued worshiping in the temple, did purification rites and seemingly continued to sacrifice.

What would you expect the apostle Paul to do? Hadn’t he written this to the Galatians: “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” (Galatians 5:4)? Paul is not shy about correcting error. He is not one to do things just to get along. When faced with this congregation where vast numbers are still practicing Judaism and the leaders are allowing it, what does Paul do? He also allows it and participates in their Jewish worship. Reminds us of what he said in 1 Corinthians 9: “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.” (1 Corinthians 9:20-21)

What was wrong for the Galatians was right for the Judeans. What would have been an attempt to seek justification via the Law by one group was not that for the other. The differences between the groups would have been vast. The differences between Paul’s actions among one group and the other would have been vast.

Cookie-cutter Christianity is a modern invention. In the first-century, Christians were allowed to have widely varying practices. I guess their tolerance level was higher than ours.