The conundrum of the “blasphemous” Paris Olympic Games has made Christians the target all over social media. I read many comments and many rebuttals and right or wrong, it has created a deluge of responses and articles. Which had me thinking…
I was reading in Acts how the apostles were forcefully arrested by the decree of the Saduccees, then released by an angel in the night. Instead of running away, they went back to teaching on the temple grounds, where they were found by the temple guards again, and this time, not forcefully brought before the council.
Long story of threats and violence cut short: Peter says: Who should we listen to? You or God? Who’s instruction should we follow? At which point a noted Pharisee, Gamaliel, gave the council some good advice:
Leave these men. If they were following a man, they would surely lose their zeal and go home in short order. But if they are from God, do you really want to start a fight with God?
“But if this movement is of God, you won’t be able to stop it. And you might discover that you were fighting God all along!”
(Acts 5:39 TPT)
The council heeded his words but decided to beat the apostles just one more time and threaten them again. What was the response of the Apostles?
“The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”
(Acts 5:41 NIV)
…and then they promptly kept on teaching, healing and taking care of the widows and orphans.
Move along to Stephen, one of the first deacons of the early church. Charged with ensuring that all the widows and orphans were treated fairly and equally.
He was not an Apostle but was known for “overflowing with the Holy Spirit” and that signs and wonders and miracles also followed him wherever he went.
Now Stephen upset a few people and they confronted him, but
“But the Holy Spirit gave Stephen remarkable wisdom to answer them. His words were prompted by the Holy Spirit, and they could not refute what he said.”
(Acts 6:10 TPT)
The only way they could get Stephen into any kind of trouble was to get others to lie about him and give false testimony, and in the end, Stephen was stoned (after a quite spectacular rebuttal and indictment of the religious leaders of Israel).
But this made me think… If we respond to the world from our own thoughts and feelings, we run the same risk as the Pharisees and Sadducees who were overcome by their own rage. Whereas Stephen was content to let the Holy Spirit speak through him, complete and total, irrefutable truth.
I wonder what the effect of our responses would be like, if we just stepped back for a second and allowed the Holy Spirit to speak, instead of our offence and anger and frustrations?
Be blessed today and be like Stephen!
