Stephen the Servant Martyr
I read something this morning that struck me as interesting. In reading through the book of Acts, we see the Apostles going out and boldly proclaiming the word of God and doing many signs and wonders in the name of Jesus Christ and with this building up the early local body of Christ. They become so overwhelmed with all of this that as early as chapter 6 we see them come to the conclusion that,
“It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:2-4).
They say this not out of pride because serving tables is somehow beneath them, but out of a desire to serve effectively in the role to which they were called by God. The first thing that struck me is that the men they want to take on these roles of service are not required to be skilled at serving or to have experience in this particular administrative capacity. They are required to be “of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.” Their character and their faith are of primary and really solitary importance, not for preaching and leadership, but for service in the church. Interesting. The passage continues:
“And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them” (Acts 6:5-6).
So they have chosen their seven, and first listed and so presumably first among them is Stephen, noted specifically as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” I think Stephen might have missed the point of all of this, because another couple verses later we read that:
“And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue… rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” (Acts 6: 8-10).
But wait… was not Stephen supposed to be in charge of the serving and practical aspects of organizing the church while Peter and the others went out “full of grace and power” “doing great wonders and signs”? Did he get the wrong job description? We are familiar with the subsequent series of events where Stephen is seized, delivers a speech, and then is stoned to death as the first martyr for Jesus Christ. But what I find amazing is that this is a man who was called to serve the church, and here he is in the streets, unable to contain himself for the joy of the Gospel that is within him. And he is indeed serving. I have no doubt that Stephen was fulfilling his role in the church to which he was appointed, but his service does not stop there. We do not see him fade into the background after he becomes the “behind-the-scenes” guy. Quite the contrary, he is brought to the forefront of the history of Christianity and becomes the first to die for the sake of the Gospel.
What a challenge. What an example of what it means to live a life of servanthood. Stephen understood that his call as a follower of Jesus was to serve not only the church in an “official” capacity, but the world as a witness to the lost and a bold proclaimer of the Gospel. He did not leave the ministry aspects of the church to the church leaders such as Peter, John, and James simply because that was their assigned task. He understood the task of every Christian to spread the good news of Jesus Christ, and to serve in every facet and arena of life.
posted by Brian Whalen @ 11:20 PM
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