Reading
Acts 6:1-8:3
Drawing Near
Many Christians unconsciously believe in an unwritten rule: "If I live a moral life and if I faithfully serve God, He is somewhat obligated to protect me from anything really bad." Do you agree with this rule? Why or why not?
The Context
The rapid growth of the first-century church meant an influx of people. More people meant more needs and new ministries to meet those needs. New programs meant administrative and logistical problems that threatened to consume all the apostles' time. Rather than neglect the spiritual disciplines of prayer and teaching God's Word, the apostles called and commissioned a group of men to attend to the pressing needs of the body.
Stephen was one of the church's newly appointed "deacons." With Christ-like character, he ministered powerfully among the people until the day he encountered a group of argumentative Jews. After he declared the truth about God to them, they told lies about him to the Jewish authorities. For faithfully discharging his duties as a believer, Stephen was arrested! If Stephen was nervous as he stood before the high priest and powerful council of the Jews, he didn't show it. He gave the religious leaders a concise review of Jewish history and then abruptly accused the council of murdering the long-awaited Messiah. This blunt and pointed sermon sent the Jews into a rage and resulted in the first martyrdom in church history.
Stephen's death seemed to escalate the Jews' persecution of the followers of Christ. The man named Saul proved to be a major leader in this widespread campaign of intolerance and terror. From a human perspective, this was an awful turn of events; from a divine perspective, everything resulted in a far greater good. The Christians were forced to scatter to the surrounding regions of Judea and Samaria. As they did, the gospel began to be preached to Gentile audiences. Thus, in the midst of terrible persecution, the church actually grew!
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1 comment:
I don't agree with that rule because first of all we don't live a christian life to be protected, we do it to because he saved us. Second of all Jesus clearly said that the christian life was not easy and that often we would encounter difficulties and problems, with his help we can overcome them, but they are still going to happen.
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