If you think you’re going to get a fair shake from the godless, you’ve got another thing coming. The same goes for those within the household of faith with hidden agendas, vested interests, and pursuits other than the glory of God. It doesn’t matter what the thing they value more than Jesus is, whether a specific denomination, a theological bend, or a particular individual; they will fight tooth and nail to defend it and are willing to use nefarious means to silence any opposition.
Then you have the profiteers. Those who see the children of
God as so many bleating sheep ready to be sheered and fleeced because not only
are many of them gullible, they won’t do anything about it once they realize
they’ve been taken to the cleaners. The profiteers know they have no credibility
or standing, so they attempt to employ those who’ve amassed some sort of trust
equity to shill their products and try to sell people worthless things. You may
get a nice kickback from selling self-assembly nuclear bunkers or radiation-deflecting
underoos, but is it worth the price of your integrity and credibility? If you
believe in the product, it’s one thing; if you’re in it for nothing more than
filthy lucre, that’s wholly different.
You can’t defend God with lies. It’s not that people don’t
try; it’s that it’s impossible to do so. Men can band together, form
coalitions, try to shout the truth down, and become vitriolic when you don’t
fall in line, but God is still God, He is still on the throne, and He knows the
intent of men’s hearts.
The ego and pride of unteachable men led to Stephen’s
stoning, and though he tried his best to open their eyes so that they might see
the truth, they would not. Their hearts were hard as stone, their minds were
made up, and though his face looked as that of an angel, and his words cut them
to their hearts, their reaction was one of hatred and their intent one of
murder.
You can’t control how those to whom you speak the truth will
react to it. Your duty is to speak the truth of Christ’s power to save,
restore, and reconcile men unto God; how they respond to it is solely on them. The
presumption that everyone will welcome the message with open arms and consider
you a friend for speaking truth into their lives is demonstrably false. Yes,
some will receive the message, but some will reject it and do so violently. You
must be prepared for either outcome and willing to endure the backlash of the
hard-hearted when their rejection is made manifest.
Jesus commands us to love those who hate us, to have
compassion for their fallen state, and to do our utmost to bring them to truth,
light, and life, even at the risk of our comfort, well-being, or lives. He
never said it would be easy; He just said it is what we must do. For anyone who
believes it’s easy to love one’s enemies, they’ve never had a true enemy. An
enemy is not someone who is passive, indifferent, or otherwise neutral
regarding your well-being but someone who is actively trying to undermine and
destroy you. That some of your enemies will turn out to be those whom you once
called brother or sister is doubly painful, and I say this as someone who has
lived it.
It is undeniable that Stephen is an example, a prototype of
what it means to walk humbly with God and suffer well. Just as Stephen had his
heroes, we, too, have ours, and the entire point of it is to look upon their
lives and learn from them. Stephen knew the history of God’s people. He
highlighted those to whom he looked up and took the time to learn everything he
could from their lived experiences walking with God. It’s an odd thing that we
know more about baseball stats or the football rosters of our favorite teams
than we know about the Word of God, the things Jesus said, and the things the
forerunners of the faith had to endure for the sake of Christ.
We learn about things we respect. We learn about things we
value. We learn about things that we deem needful. How is it that learning the
Bible is so far down the list for so many calling themselves Christians and
followers of Christ? Stephen didn’t mumble himself through a weak defense of
his position. He knew what he was talking about, and it showed. It was largely
the reason those who heard him despised him, so because they could not refute
his arguments.
While growing up, there wasn’t much for us to do as children.
Gaming consoles hadn’t yet made an appearance on the scene, so our primary
entertainment was playing chicken with some rusty lawn darts a neighbor gave us
rather than throw away. It was fun for a while until my middle brother Sergiu
decided he wouldn’t move, and I planted a lawn dart in his foot. After that, we
were prohibited from using them, so we switched to rocks. We’d stand a few feet
apart and toss rocks at each other’s heads; whoever flinched or moved was the
loser. I never said we were overly bright, but it was entertaining, and no, we
weren’t throwing underhand. I mention this only because I know what it’s like
to have a rock bounce off your kisser, and even then, it was a small rock
compared to what they were using to stone Stephen.
Being stoned to death is not like being beheaded or speared
through the heart. It takes time for the individual to expire depending on how
many people do the throwing, how big the rocks are, and how violently they are
throwing them. Given that the same people who stoned Stephen were the ones who
gnashed at him with their teeth, chances are they weren’t holding back.
Through it all, Stephen never once prayed for himself but
rather for those who were slowly murdering him because that’s what it was. Imagine
being surrounded by men whom you once considered brothers, lobbing stones at
your head, being struck over and over, yet having the presence of mind to pray
for them. It’s one of those details that is often overlooked but one that is
profoundly impacting if you think through it for a breath.
Just as Stephen was not alone during his final moments,
neither will any of God’s children if they must walk the road of persecution
and martyrdom. He looked up and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the
right hand of God. In his darkest hour, God’s presence was made manifest. He
was not absentee; He was not otherwise engaged; He was present and revealed
His glory to Stephen as he gave his full measure for the sake of Christ Jesus
his Lord.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
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