Daily Devotional for Wednesday, January 11th

The Meekness of a Deacon

I can recall that, when I was in University, that people with very opposing views could sit around the Student Union and argue and debate heatedly over some topic; after we were done, we would have coffee and walk together to class. Why could we do this? Because we were friends, that is why. The debated topic was the debated topic, and our friendship was our friendship. The two were not the same. Sadly, that is not so true today. Disagreement equals enmity in today’s world of socio-cultural-political debate. In fact, today, the actual topic being debated matters little, as typically it never gets discussed. What gets discussed is the personal failings of the opponent. The starting point of the argument gets changed. “Your argument is false because you are(fill in the blank.)

The council that summoned Stephen was engaging in this behavior. Rather than listen to the content of his message and his actions, they levied false accusations of blasphemy against him. They even brought false witnesses to testify as such. What did Stephen do? He did not fall into their trap and try to defend himself against baseless accusations. He pondered what they had said, then immediately returned to the message he had been given, and that was the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Friends, folks with do that same thing today. If presented clearly, the content of the gospel really can’t be disputed; therefore, another approach has to be taken by those it offends. We must be diverted off message, to a defense of our shortcomings. Let us not be caught up in that. What people say about us does not matter; only the gospel message does.

Just a Thought: As long as we stick to the basic gospel message, we really cannot go wrong, as we are called to be witnesses, not lawyers.

Wally Fry