Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison. Acts 8:1-3
Acts 7 ends with the stoning of Stephen because of his testimony about Jesus. It was a grisly death, caused by a crowd of angry men throwing big stones at Stephen’s head and witnessed by whatever crowd gathered around the moment.
It appears that Stephen’s death was like pouring gasoline on the already smoldering flame of hatred for the Christian way. Luke says that severe persecution began on that day. It was impossible for the Christ followers to go anywhere without accusations, mockery, and even violence being leveled against them. Nor would this be a unique experience for the believers in Jerusalem.
In letters written to the early churches, there is an undercurrent of suffering that arose directly from a commitment to the Lord Jesus and living for him. The theme of all these teachings is that suffering for the cause of Christ is to be expected and will produce deepened faith.
These are a few texts typical of what the Bible says about suffering for Christ:
- …the Present Sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us…. Romans 8:18.
- ….we boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance… Romans 5:3.
- If you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you… 1 Peter 3:20-21.
- [In Antioch] they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22.
- Do not be astonished…that the world hates you… 1 John 3:13.
However, the Christian faith has been absorbed into modern western culture in a thousand ways: Christmas and Easter are national holidays, Christianity is connected to political ambition and is given a tax break and has national legitimacy. In short, it is no threat to the powers that be, and the idea of suffering is considered to be anathema to many Western Christians.
It is easy to see why the warnings of Jesus about coming persecution were more relevant to the early Christians.
Maybe we should rethink our commitments today.
Prayer:
O God we often lose sight of you in our Western way of looking at things. In our cultural compromises and vague faith. Please help us to be authentically discipled by you, ready to follow you wherever that may lead us. Even into suffering. Amen.