Persecution

Read Acts 7:54-8:3.

Stephen was going about his business, and his business was preaching the good news (though, interestingly, Stephen was not set apart as a preacher but rather as what today is often called a "deacon," one who serves among the people of God, Acts 6). He had been arrested and found guilty of...well, he had been found guilty and worthy of death. There is never really a sentence pronounced, but he is dragged to the edge of town, to the stoning place, to be put to death. And standing there, watching the coats of those who killed this young man, is a man named Saul. He's important. Keep your eye on him.

But for now, let's return to the scene of stoning. As I mentioned, it was unclear what Stephen had done other than be true to his faith. And yet, his death did not bring an end to the preaching. Rather, according to Luke, two things happened as a result of his death. First, a "great persecution" broke out; in other words, spurred on by Stephen's death, the call grew for the death of more believers. The second thing that happened is that the church, for fear of its life, was scattered all across the known world. Apparently only the Apostles (Jesus' original disciples plus Matthias) remained in Jerusalem to carry on the work there. But God used even the persecution and the scattering to spread the Gospel; wherever they went, people took the Gospel with them and shared it there!

We use the word "persecution" too casually today. We use it to describe things that aren't really persecution but rather inconveniences. Persecution for the early church involved the very real threat of death, as it still does in many places around the world. In ISIS-controlled areas, persecution for many Christians has meant a violent death. In some Eastern Asia countries, persecution has meant jail or worse. We do not experience that type of persecution in our country, thanks be to God. We are still free to worship and, despite what some seem to think, still free to share our faith and live out our faith. There may be penalties when we speak up for our faith. There may be struggles in "swimming against the tide" because of our faith. There may be consequences when we are obnoxious about our faith. But let's reserve the word "persecution" for life and death situations, as it was in the early church.

And let's be on the lookout in any of those places where persecution allows for or enables even the spread of the Gospel to other places. Out of Stephen's stoning came not only the scattering of believers to many other places where they could share the good news. Out of that event also came a man named Saul, who would go on to become Paul, who would be responsible for shaping the Christian faith in significant and profound ways. God can use "even this" for his work and his glory.

And let's allow this passage to be a call to us to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters. When they are asked how we should pray, the most often-repeated answer is this: "Do not pray that we will escape this persecution, but that we will be able to endure it and glorify God through it."

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