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Stephen: The Winsome Radical

Lessons from the First Christian Martyr

For the next few weeks we will be examining influential characters throughout the Book of Acts – people who impacted those around them, shaped the early church, and influenced the Apostle Paul. In Acts 17, city officials make a remarkable accusation against these early Christians: “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” Today, we focus on Stephen, whom one commentator aptly called “The Winsome Radical.”

Who Was Stephen?

Stephen holds the distinction of being the first Christian martyr – the first to be executed for his faith in Christ. The term “martyr” comes from the Greek word for “witness,” and Stephen truly witnessed to Christ’s power through his life and death.

Continue reading → Stephen: The Winsome Radical
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NATURE | 40 Days of Focus, Day 3

 

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
(Genesis 1:9-13)

Out of the waters came the dry land, and that land produced vegetation. I wish I could have been there to see it. I’m constantly in awe at the sheer diversity of plant life and vegetation on this planet. My boys were watching The Magic School Bus the other day on Netflix, and the students in the cartoon were learning about how trees communicate with each other through releasing different compounds and molecules into the air. Nature is absolutely stunning.

I love finding out new things, so here is a “Did you know?” list about nature.
  • There are more trees on the earth than stars in the Milky Way Galaxy
  • The Amazon rainforest produces half of the world’s oxygen supply
  • Caffeine serves the function of a pesticide inside the coffee tree
  • The tallest tree ever recorded was an Australian eucalyptus in 1872, measuring 435 feet tall
  • Bamboo stalks can grow up to 35 inches in one day
  • California Redwoods are the largest living organisms on the planet
  • Ginko is the oldest living tree species – dating back 250 million years
  • There are over 300,000 identified plant species, and that number continues to grow

God doesn’t do anything halfway. Our planet didn’t have to be beautiful. Think about it – beauty is not a necessity for life, just look inside the boys’ locker room. Beauty is not essential, but it’s woven into the fabric of creation, and we get to witness and enjoy it. Take time to notice the yellow blooms of the early daffodils beaming brightly above the frost-covered ground. Notice the vibrant hues and the soft greens of the first leaves sprouting on the trees. Notice the flowers that will ultimately transform into apples and tomatoes. Notice the warm reds and oranges of a late-autumn sunset over the trees. Notice the strong evergreen branches draped in snow.

There are some who believe that God created everything in the world solely for the benefit of humans. I don’t necessarily ascribe to that notion. I think God made non-human creation for his own sake. The world is not ours to conquer and bend to our will. Nature is intended to point us toward God and his will.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
(Romans 1:20)

We should feel a sense of connection with the Creator when we are exploring his creation. But it does make me feel good to know there are parts of this planet that are still a complete mystery to us. Because it’s not about us – it’s all about God. We get to join with the rest of nature in praising and worshiping God.

Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and women,
old men and children.
(Psalm 148:7-12)

We bring honor and glory to God when we fulfill our purpose as humans (which we’ll get to on day 6). In the same way, the land and vegetation brings honor and glory to God when it is doing what it was created to do. That’s one of the reasons I believe God’s people should care about the environment. Pollution, deforestation, and global warming make it harder for creation to bring glory to its Creator.

We are intimately and inextricably connected to nature. We are made out of the “dust of the ground.” We breathe the oxygen produced by trees as they scrub the toxic Carbon Dioxide from our atmosphere. We eat the fruit, nuts, seeds, and vegetables produced from the plants around us. We need nature, but nature doesn’t necessarily need us. Make no mistake – nature was here long before we came on the scene, and nature will be here long after our time.

And if we don’t carry out our business in giving praise and glory to God, then nature will carry on without us.

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
(Luke 19:37-40)

Now get outside and go take a walk in the woods. Join the trees in praising God.

____________________________

Have you ever felt a connection to God while being out in nature? What was that experience like?

When was the last time you simply stopped and took in the beauty of creation around you? Why do you think we don’t do that very often?

If you could actually hear the trees and the mountains and the flowers praising God, what do you think they would say?

Spend some time in prayer, thanking and praising God for his creation and the beauty of nature all around us.

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No More Idols

I’ve never worshiped an idol. I’ve never bowed down to a statue or offered sacrifices to a foreign god. I’ve never set up a shrine to anyone or anything. I’ve never carved or chiseled an image to represent a deity.

But I’m an idolater.

And so are you, probably.

I’m starting a new series on Wednesday nights with our teens called “No More Idols.” Over the next couple of months we’re going to be rethinking idolatry, reevaluating our lives, and purging any idol worship we may find.

Why?

This seems like a weird topic for 2018. Idolatry is such a churchy word, and idol worship seems so foreign or even primitive to our sophisticated, Western, enlightened minds.

Here’s why:

They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. (Psalm 106:36)

If you’ve ever seen the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, you are practically an expert in snares. A snare is a trap. For a trap to work, there has to be some bait – something that is appealing, alluring, desirable. The animal is lured into the trap by the bait, and when the moment is right the trap springs, catching the animal inside the cage or in its grip. Sure, the animal gets what it wants, but at the cost of its life.

Idolatry is a trap.

Do you know how to catch a monkey? This real life metaphor, popularized by Robert Pirsig’s book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, has been spread widely over the last few decades. It’s called the South Indian Monkey Trap. We think monkeys are cute and would make great pets. But in some parts of the world, monkeys are pests. They are a nuisance to have around. So they must be trapped and removed. But how?

The trap is incredibly simple – just a hollowed out coconut or gourd with a small prize inside, like rice, fruit, or something shiny. A small hole in the side allows the monkey to slip its hand inside and grab hold of the object. But once the hand is in a fist shape, it cannot be pulled back out the hole. The monkey must either let go of its treasure or remain trapped.

Idolatry is a trap.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we must all understand what we’re talking about and why it matters.

So what is an idol?

At its most basic, an idol is “an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.” We find idols in nearly every ancient culture and civilization – from the Egyptians to the Greeks to the Mayans. We find them today among the Hindus, the Buddhists (although Buddha is not a god who is worshiped), the Sikhs (their holy book is revered to nearly divine status), and a few others.

An idol is a statue, carving, engraving, painting, etc. that is revered and worshiped as a representation of the divine.

What’s the big deal, though?

Let’s take a quick refresher course on the first two of the Ten Commandments:

And God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:1-6)

The first two commandments are 1) You shall have no other gods before me, and 2) You shall not make for yourself an image to bow down to and worship.

Remember that God is giving these commands to a newly freed Hebrew people. They have been living as slaves in Egypt for the past several generations. The only religion they have known and practiced would have involved the Egyptian pantheon. The ancient Egyptians had dozens, if not hundreds of gods. They had major temples built to Osiris, Isis, Horus, Thot, Hathor, Set, and more. The Hebrews would have been all too familiar with idol worship and polytheism (the worship of multiple gods).

Then YHWH shows up, sends Moses to deliver them, and brings them to the base of this mountain to set the record straight. YHWH is your God, your only God, and YHWH will not be depicted by any image of a created thing. This would have been completely revolutionary to them. One God? No idols? Okay, we’ll give it a try… (they would soon fail at all of that, but we’ll get to that later).

God begins his story with his people by prohibiting idol worship. And the New Testament ends with the same instruction!

Among the latest writings of the New Testament are the letters from John. First John ends abruptly with this instruction:

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21)

Why? Because idolatry is a trap.

An idol is…

  • anything that takes the place of God.
  • that which promises greatly, takes everything, and gives nothing.
  • anything apart from God to which we cry out, “save me!”
Let’s do a little activity! Take a look at the expertly made bracket. We all love brackets, right? You will see 32 items, and we’re trying to find what is most important to us. For each pairing, ask yourself which of these two is more important in my life? Be real. Be honest.
What was your winner? Was it family? Friends? Significant other? Career? Video games?
What decision was the hardest for you to make? Did you have to choose between money and your friends? Did you have to choose between church and video games? Did you have to choose between your family and your significant other?
Here’s the point. Every time we say “Yes” to something, we are automatically saying “No” to something else. For every yes, there is a corresponding no. You may have to say yes to sports and no to drugs. You may have to say yes to your career and no to taking vacations.
Most of these things are not bad in and of themselves. The fact is that you cannot say yes to everything. Life is full of choices like this. You must learn to say yes and no wisely.
What’s going to benefit you and others the most? What’s the best use of your time and resources? What is going to be the most fulfilling, most life giving choice? What are you going to regret NOT doing at the end of your life?
Idolatry is a trap because it promises that which it can never offer. Idols necessarily overpromise and underdeliver. They give you just enough to keep you trapped, giving you the illusion of getting what you want – like the monkey in the coconut trap.
But when you say yes to God and no to idols, you are set free from those traps and cycles (we’ll look at these more in the coming weeks). Through Christ’s death we are set free from the bondage of sin and death. Idols may promise the world, but the world is only God’s to give – and it’s already promised to the meek (Matthew 5).
Idolatry is alive and well in America.
Take a look at the most important things in your life – those things that made it to the semifinals in your bracket. Could one or more of these be taking over as an idol in your life? Ask yourselves these questions:
  • how might this idol pull you away from God?
  • what do people sacrifice in worship to this idol?
  • what does this idol promise that it can’t actually deliver?
The life worth living is one in which we say Yes to God and no to idols. What God has promised, God will deliver.