God never promised us a rose garden. Instead, He assures us that He will
be with us continually.
A vivid example of that is shown to us by
Stephen, the first Christian martyr:
"Now Stephen, a man full of
God's grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the
people." (Acts 6:8, NIV2)
Wouldn't we think that this would
attract many to come to know Jesus personally? It sure did, but is also
caught the attention of the critical: "Opposition arose, however, from
members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)-Jews of
Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia-who
began to argue with Stephen." (Acts 6:9, NIV2)
There is always
opposition when we do God's work. Amazingly, many times this opposition
comes from the religious communities who, though they proclaim to know
all about God, have generally never met Him personally.
"But they
could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke."
(Acts 6:10, NIV2) In other words, no one can outdo what the Holy Spirit
does! No one!
Their only way out was slander, as they did: "Then
they secretly persuaded some men to say, 'We have heard Stephen speak
blasphemous words against Moses and against God.'" (Acts 6:11, NIV2) By
the way, slander is the choice weapon of the evil one, who continually
tries to discredit the workings of God.
"So they stirred up the
people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen
and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who
testified, 'This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and
against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth
will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to
us.'" (Acts 6:12-14, NIV2)
Now we find out their true colors!
"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your
father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to
the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his
native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44,
NIV2)
Amazingly, Stephen stayed poised: "All who were sitting in
the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was
like the face of an angel." (Acts 6:15, NIV2) This is what happens when
we focus only on Jesus. We may be experiencing grim circumstances, but
Jesus upholds us all the way. Even though Stephen was falsely accused,
he was completely in peace.
"Then the high priest asked Stephen,
'Are these charges true?'" (Acts 7:1, NIV2) Now Stephen has the
opportunity to testify and testify he sure did, with no concerns of his
own life.
We, too, can stand completely at peace no matter what
the circumstance we are facing, as long as Jesus is our reality.
Persecution against Christians has increased exponentially. Just a few
months ago, on November 4, 2014, in central Pakistan, violence occurred
against a Christian and his pregnant wife. They were accused of
allegedly burning some pages of the Quran.
These two were
enslaved laborers in a brick-making kiln. In this system of modern
slavery, the workers are given an amount of money in advance, and they
cannot leave without returning the money. They even live in quarters at
the kiln site, and since there are exorbitant amounts of interest on
this "loan", bonded labourers are often enslaved even for generations.
As a result, when falsely accuses, this Christian and his wife were
unable to run for their lives, because their kiln owner refused to let
them leave without repaying their debt. Thus, they were literally stuck.
At about six in the morning, when Shahzad and Shama returned to
their home to prepare themselves for their work, they were faced by a
huge, angry mob. They were beaten with wooden clubs and then tied to a
tractor and dragged down a road under construction, covered with crushed
stones. Never did this couple have the opportunity to defend themselves.
Sadly, the whole time a police van was present, but no one came to
their help.
Even after all this, the mob was still furious. They
took some gasoline from the tractor and poured it over the poor couple,
and then threw them into a burning kiln. Condemned with no proof!
The killing of people merely on accusation is quite common in
Pakistan. If only these accusers would take a few minutes and wonder
about their actions. Is this truly a worthwhile endeavor? Is this
spurred by love or hatred? Is it spurred by truth or lies? Who are they
truly serving?
One day they, too, will face judgment. What will
their verdict be?
I have no idea what that Christian couple went
through. Were they terrified? Probably. I sure would have been. Still, I
am also certain that God sustained them through this ordeal.
Some
may miss the boat and accuse God for not coming through. I think this is
ironic, as it is quite clear where this comes from. Only one is a
specialist in false accusations used to turn everything into his favor.
Do we wish to be part of his plot?
I still believe that some good
will come out of this, as we will discover next time when we look at the
aftermath of Stephen's execution.
We may still wonder, however:
How would we have reacted to such false accusations? With love or
hatred?
Rob Chaffart
May we always remember to pray fervently for our fellow believers who
are facing persecution. We have it easy here in the Western world. Any
opposition here is child's play compared to what happens in other parts
of our world.
