Deliberate Disregard
51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him—53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”
Acts 7:51–53
This is the final piece of Stephen’s speech to his Jewish accusers. Shortly afterwards, he will be stoned to death for his words. I encourage you, if you haven’t before, to go and read his speech in Acts 7.
One of the things that often stands out to people is his tone and his conclusion (above). It strikes a discord with many of us who perhaps still have 1 Peter 3 ringing in our ears. That Christians should have an answer prepared for those who ask them about their faith, but to do it with gentleness and respect.
This doesn’t seem like gentleness & respect. Is this a contradiction? How do we rationalise Stephen’s words/tone with 1 Peter 3 and perhaps even our general culture of niceness?
I think if you are willing to dig deeper, it’s worth reading Paul’s Acts 17 speech to the Areopagus alongside Stephen’s to the Jewish Sanhedrin. Because I think what the comparison reveals is less-so a different attitude of Paul/Stephen. If you look at Acts 18, Paul will act in a similar fashion.
No, I think the difference is the audience. Namely, that there is a difference between Jews who should have known to welcome Jesus as their Messiah, and Gentiles who were ignorant.
1 Peter is written to a Church that is in a primarily Gentile community, therefore ignorant of the things of God. How should we answer their questions? With gentleness and respect. But in Jewish communities that resist the announcement of the Messiah, their hard-hearts have been revealed and there is nothing left to do but to shake off your clothes and move on.
What does this mean for us? Well, we are in a 1 Peter 3 community. But it does help us understand why Stephen & Paul’s tone might be so different to our expectations. Jesus’ too. He is often quite harsh with some of the more religious Jews. It’s a reminder too that those who have heard the gospel, know the teachings of the Bible, and yet walked away, may also fit into this category of not-ignorance but should have known better.
Food for thought.
Today:
Pray:
Acts 7:51–53
This is the final piece of Stephen’s speech to his Jewish accusers. Shortly afterwards, he will be stoned to death for his words. I encourage you, if you haven’t before, to go and read his speech in Acts 7.
One of the things that often stands out to people is his tone and his conclusion (above). It strikes a discord with many of us who perhaps still have 1 Peter 3 ringing in our ears. That Christians should have an answer prepared for those who ask them about their faith, but to do it with gentleness and respect.
This doesn’t seem like gentleness & respect. Is this a contradiction? How do we rationalise Stephen’s words/tone with 1 Peter 3 and perhaps even our general culture of niceness?
I think if you are willing to dig deeper, it’s worth reading Paul’s Acts 17 speech to the Areopagus alongside Stephen’s to the Jewish Sanhedrin. Because I think what the comparison reveals is less-so a different attitude of Paul/Stephen. If you look at Acts 18, Paul will act in a similar fashion.
No, I think the difference is the audience. Namely, that there is a difference between Jews who should have known to welcome Jesus as their Messiah, and Gentiles who were ignorant.
1 Peter is written to a Church that is in a primarily Gentile community, therefore ignorant of the things of God. How should we answer their questions? With gentleness and respect. But in Jewish communities that resist the announcement of the Messiah, their hard-hearts have been revealed and there is nothing left to do but to shake off your clothes and move on.
What does this mean for us? Well, we are in a 1 Peter 3 community. But it does help us understand why Stephen & Paul’s tone might be so different to our expectations. Jesus’ too. He is often quite harsh with some of the more religious Jews. It’s a reminder too that those who have heard the gospel, know the teachings of the Bible, and yet walked away, may also fit into this category of not-ignorance but should have known better.
Food for thought.
Today:
- Do you think there is any place for rebuke or a hard tone in Christian communication?
- Have you ever received someone speak strongly to you? Were they right to?
- Pray for Jew’s that they might see Jesus is Messiah.
Pray:
- Praise the Father that he is gracious even to the hard-hearted.
- Give thanks for Jesus who speaks the truth in love to his people.
- Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others discern how to speak to unbelievers.
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