Madisonville Church of Christ

by Russell M. Kline

 

Anyone who lives a faithful Christian life long enough will one day be called upon to defend the faith he professes. Jesus told His disciples that they would be "blessed" to experience such persecution (Mat. 5:10-12), while Paul wrote, "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (II Tim. 3:12), and Peter warned that Christians should expect to suffer because of their faith (I Pet. 4:12-16). Every member of the body of Christ, even in this day and age, must be prepared to respond to religious confrontations (I Pet. 3:15; Col. 4:6).

 

In the first century, Jesus promised His disciples that they would receive inspiration from God, when called upon to defend their faith (Luke 21:12-15). They needed miraculous help, because the revelation of God's will to man was not yet complete (I Cor. 13:8-12). Today, we must rely upon our own personal knowledge of God's Word to give us the answers we need, when we are questioned about our religion (II Tim. 2:15).

 

In the sixth and seventh chapters of the book of Acts, we read of Stephen, a brother in Christ who was called upon to make a stand for Jesus. In the end, he had to make the ultimate sacrifice for his faith (Rev. 2:10), but not before he taught us some valuable lessons in the example he set for us. As we discuss the life and death of Stephen, let us learn how we can stand up for Jesus, ourselves.

 

 

Stephen was a faithful member of the church of Christ in Jerusalem. He was one of seven men chosen to take care of the needs of Grecian widows in the congregation (Acts 6:1-5), a fact which leads some to conclude that he served the ancient church as a deacon. If this was the case, then it may be assumed that he had a wife and children (I Tim. 3:8-13). It is known that he was a dedicated evangelist, who took the great commission very seriously, and did everything he could to advance the cause of Christ (Acts 6:8).

 

As it is the case with any faithful Christian, there were those who disagreed with Stephen's teaching and practices. At first, they were willing to discuss their differences with him, as they "debated" with him in their synagogue (Acts 6:9). While soem insist that any kind of religious debate is counterproductive to the faith, the Bible insists that rational disucssion of spiritual matters is quite useful to the Lord's cause (Isa. 1:18). None of Stephen's opponents could undermine the logic of his arguments (Heb. 4:12), neither could they find fault with the manner in which they were presented (Eph. 4:15a). He simply spoke the truth to them, and they were not able to defeat it (Acts 6:10).

 

In this case, Stephen's stand for the truth made him some bitter enemies (Gal. 4:16). They spread lies about him throughout their community, and even "stirred up" the authorities against him (Acts 6:11,12a). When I was preaching in a small Ohio town, the local Methodist preacher tried to "stir up" the community against me, because I was unwilling to "go along" with his plans to "get together" and "have some fellowship." The slander and backbiting I experienced is nothing in comparison with the persecution put upon Stephen. The slander committed against Stephen eventually led to his arrest and trial before the local authorities, at which time he showed admirable composure (Acts 6:12b-15).