5 Lessons from the Persecution that Followed the Death of Stephen
In light of the events in Afghanistan I’ve been thinking about the role persecution played in the advance of the gospel in the book of Acts. Here are some reflections on the death of the first Christian martyr and the subsequent wave of brutal persecution. What can we learn from these events and apply today?
1. Persecution is promised
Jesus’s prophecy was fulfilled in Stephen and the early church,
They will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death (Luke 21:12-16).
As the movement advances, there will be persecution and Jesus will fulfill his promise to be with us even in the face of death.
2. Persecution is costly
Let’s not glamourise persecution. Saul’s intent was to destroy the church. As children watched on, their parents were dragged from their homes and put in prison where they are interrogated with the intention to force them to curse the name of Jesus. Some are beaten and flogged; some meet violent deaths. It’s almost certain that Stephen left behind a widow and children.
Some fled their homes escaping to other cities where they are sheltered by fellow disciples or extended family, fearing all the time a knock at the door, arrest and return in chains to Jerusalem.
3. Persecution exposes best practices
Cut a spider into pieces and it dies. Cut a starfish into pieces and you get more starfish. The church in Jerusalem was a starfish. This movement was not centrally coordinated or clergy dependant. As the disciples escaped to Judea, Samaria, Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, they went knowing they had the authority and responsibility to proclaim the Word in the power of the Holy Spirit. When the Word found faith those disciples baptised new believers and formed new churches (Acts 9:31, 11:19-21). Permission was not required.
If ministry had been restricted to a professional clergy and organised centrally, the movement would not have spread or survived. Instead, every unit that was scattered could share the gospel, baptise new disciples and form new churches.
4. Persecution restores mobility
Philip wasn’t planning a mission trip to Samaria, or to the desert road down from Gaza, or to the coastal cities of the Mediterranean. He was on the run. The apostles Peter and John had to catch up to what the Spirit was doing through Philip.
Jerusalem was the place to be, they had filled the city with the knowledge of Jesus. The churches throughout the city had grown to thousands. There were miracles, prayer and worship rose to the heavens, and poverty was eliminated in the community. This was a church in revival. Surely the light would go out from Jerusalem to the nations and the nations would be drawn in. Why would anyone want to leave Jerusalem? They would have to be forced out.
What is the point of a revival if it stays put in one place? Jesus had commanded his people to go, not just to Jerusalem and Judea, but Samaria and the ends of the earth.
The book of Acts is wrongly named the Acts of the Apostles. Acts should be called the Acts of the Living God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God does not allow his people to settle down when he has the whole world on his heart.
5. Persecution isn’t forever
God is gracious. Persecution does not last forever. In the wilderness, when Jesus responded to every attack of the Enemy with surrender to his Father’s will, the enemy withdrew. Satan knew that to continue the attack would just drive Jesus deeper in his faithful obedience.
Luke tells us that, “the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers” (Acts 9:31).
Through the disruption of persecution the mission was on the move again. Now God was ready to disrupt the life and ministry of his lead apostle, Peter (Acts 10), and break open the door for the gospel to go to the Gentiles.
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