As we come to the tragic story of Stephen's martyrdom recorded in Acts 6:8–7:60, we dare not ignore a challenging issue Christians have wrestled with since the earliest days of the church, i.e., what do we do when a law in the nation is in direct conflict with a command from God?
This issue takes center stage in the Book of Acts as we read about how our brothers and sisters in Christ conducted themselves in a culture that became increasingly opposed to them. Let me summarize what happened:
• The great commission Jesus gave was a command to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing people in his name and teaching people to obey everything he had commanded (Mt. 28:18–20). In Acts 1:8, the Holy Spirit came specifically to empower people to be witnesses to Jesus.
• The governmental authorities specifically ordered the Christians in Jerusalem "not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus" in Acts 4:18. To this, Peter blatantly asked the question in 4:19, "Which is right in God's eyes: to obey you or him?"
• In this matter of being a witness, the early Christians consistently disobeyed the edict given them and obeyed God instead—and were imprisoned and flogged for doing so (5:17–21, 40).
• The clash of competing authorities took on crystal clarity in Acts 5:28–29. The authorities told the apostles, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name..." And the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men!"
This conflict moved to its logical culmination when the young Christian leader Stephen was seized because of his witness to Jesus. Instead of holding his tongue, Stephen took the opportunity provided to him when he was arrested to preach the longest sermon recorded in Acts. The result is that in Acts 7:54–60, Stephen became the first of many, many martyrs in the history of the church.
This weekend, we will think about living for Jesus in the midst of a world that opposes him. As we do so, we will seek wisdom about how to hold together several biblical principles: 1) Jesus-followers have always been committed to being good and responsible citizens even under anti-Christian regimes (Mt. 22:15–22; Rom. 13:1–7; 1 Peter 2:13–17). 2) When authorities are in conflict, God's authority trumps all others (Acts 5:29). 3) We must always be witnesses to the name of Jesus no matter what opposition we face.
May God give us wisdom as he sends each of us as his ambassadors into a variety of places in our world with the mandate to be his witnesses in word and deed.
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor