"Acts 6:1-7:19
Rescued from all his troubles
There is sometimes a temptation to idealise the life of the early church – as if they were the perfect church and had no problems at all. We need to read the idyllic picture of the church in Acts 2 alongside the events of Acts 6 and, of course, not forget all the troubles of Paul in his letters. In this passage we see that the early church had plenty of troubles:
Complaining within the church
Good leaders pick their battles carefully. They do not get involved in everything, but they do take responsibility for everything. The apostles faced a justified complaint that ‘widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food’ (v.1). Yet they needed to concentrate on their main task: ‘prayer and the ministry of the word’ (v.4). The solution lay (as it does so often) in effective delegation.
The apostles dealt with the issue by setting aside a group of people who would ‘wait on tables’ (v.2). They chose people ‘full of the Spirit and wisdom’ (v.3). As a result they kept their focus and ‘the word of God spread’ and the number of disciples increased dramatically (v.7). Good leaders delegate and release others into their God-given gifts and ministries.
Stirring among the people
A group of opponents of the church ‘stirred up the people’ (v.12) and ‘produced false witnesses’ (v.13). They twisted Stephen’s words and said, ‘This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law’ (vv.13).
Fear of change
Some of the opposition came from a fear of change. They said, ‘We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us’ (v.14).
They found they could not keep their eyes off Stephen, whose ‘face was like the face of an angel’ (v.15). He gave his defense. He recited the history of the people of God and cited the parts of history that were particularly relevant to his own situation. He said of Joseph, ‘God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom …’ (7:9–10), just as God was clearly giving Stephen wisdom (see 6:10).
Stephen’s own rescue came only in martyrdom. He ‘saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God’ (7:55), and Stephen was rescued for all eternity.
Thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you that it warns us to expect complaining, opposition and fear of change. Help us not to be put off by the troubles but rather, like Stephen, to be full of faith and the Holy Spirit. May we see the word of God spread and the numbers of your followers increase more and more each day."
1. Thank You for the encouragement. May I have an open mind to changes.
2. Thank You that You still show balance in life.
3. Thank You for the inasal taste. Not bad.
