In 71 B.C., a gladiator-slave named Spartacus gathered a following of 6,000 rebel slaves to revolt against the throne of the Roman Republic and their evil system of slavery

The result = the crucifixion of 6,000 rebel slaves along a 120 mile road called The Appian Way

The early Jesus movement was pinned between the THRONE (Roman Empire) and the TEMPLE (Jewish Religious Establishment)

THRONE’S friction: we have one Lord, and it’s the Emperor

TEMPLE’S friction: there is one place to access God’s presence and it’s the Temple. The only ones who can access God’s presence and forgiveness on behalf of Jews alone are the Priests.

Jesus movement claim:
-There is one Lord of all creation and it’s Jesus
-Through Jesus, the Jewish story has been fulfilled
-The man-made containers (tabernacle and temple) restricting God’s presence were never the promise
-God has poured out His Spirit to live within Jew and Gentile (all non-Jews), giving people full access to God’s presence

Bottom Line: God grows our witness in discomfort, but in our comfort, we can easily slip into compromise.

Gamaliel’s test:
-Let’s back off of our squashing efforts
-Sit back and watch what happens
-If the movement dies, it’s just of human origin
-If the movement lives, it’s from God and will be unstoppable

Their witness continued to grow even when the soil was full of discomfort

The SAME GROUP that JUST agreed to BACK OFF kills Stephen

When the enemy wants to use DISCOMFORT to DESTROY, God uses DISCOMFORT for GROWTH

No one knew how the MISSION of Acts 1:8 would be fulfilled, and now it’s unfolding in surprising ways!

“The blood of the martyr is the seed of the church” - Tertullian

Greek word for “witness” = “martus:” (mar-toos)

Martus is where we get the word = martyr

Martyr = one who is killed for their faith

Our mission to be a witness is connected to our suffering and discomfort

The murder of Jesus and Stephen sparked 300 years of extreme persecution and discomfort under various Roman Emperors:

And yet, their witness GREW:
-Resisted participation in military conquests
-Took in unwanted Roman infants
-Resisted allegiance to the Emperor as Lord
-Commitment to gathering in community

In all our COMFORTS, how have we slipped into COMPROMISE?

Constantine, unlike previous Roman Emperors, brought peace to the community of Jesus followers in the 3rd century

Constantine’s personal compromise:
-Refusal to be trained in the Way of Jesus in community (individualism)
-Blending together various religious beliefs and practices for whatever served him best (syncretism)
-Blending blurred christian beliefs and practices with government to gain further power and control (christian nationalism)

Worship before Constantine–
-In homes
-Church leaders dressed in simple, everyday clothes
-Everyone had a role and participated in worship. It was very communal.

Worship with Constantine in power–
-In luxurious buildings called basilicas built by the Roman Empire
-Practice of burning incense–a Roman custom to show respect to the Emperor
-Church leaders dressing in luxurious outfits
-Worship became less communal, with everyone taking a less active role in worship (sit and watch)

The Good News for the poor, oppressed, lowly, and weak → Good News for the rich and powerful

Good News FROM GOD → Good News FROM the EMPIRE

We can CELEBRATE the freedom we have that limits our suffering and discomfort as we follow Jesus in our country

AND

We can GRIEVE the ways we’ve let comfort compromise our witness

The story of Stephen’s death:
-Shines a light on our comforts and exposes our compromise
-Invites us back to a growing witness of the crucified and risen Jesus

In the comfort of power, convenience, money, status, image, political ideology–we will compromise and wander so far off from our IDENTITY and WITNESS that our lives demonstrate a message contrary to Jesus and His Kingdom?

OR

Will we CONFRONT our COMFORTS,Turn from our COMPROMISES,And come back to our WITNESS:

INCARNATION: God coming to be with us in our suffering, showing us how to truly live and be in relationship with God and neighbor

CRUCIFIXION: exposing the corruption of sin, revealing the extent of God’s love and commitment to justice as the powers and principalities are disarmed–tearing down the walls of hostility between people as a new multi-ethnic family is formed under the cruciform love of Jesus

RESURRECTION: defeating death, giving us the guarantee, that we too, will be resurrected with new bodies

NEW CREATION: Jesus will return again, uniting heaven and earth, making all things new, as the family of God joins Father, Son, and Spirit in our resurrected bodies in New Creation forever and ever

OPEN:
1. Share about a time you turned something down because it made you uncomfortable. What was uncomfortable about it?

DISCUSS:
1. In your own words, can you describe why the Jesus movement was a “threat” to the THRONE (Roman Empire) and the TEMPLE (Jewish Religious Establishment)?
2. Read Acts 5:33-42. What is the logic of Gamaliel’s test?
3. Read Acts 7:54-8:5. Why does Stephen’s re-telling of God’s story and Israel’s role in it cause the response that it did?
4. How might YOU be resisting the Holy Spirit?
5. How is the mission of Acts 1:8 being fulfilled?
6. Why is Samaria such a taboo people/place for Jesus-following Jews?
7. What do you think about Tertullian’s quote, “the blood of the martyr is the seed of the church.” ?
8. How might our witness be connected to our suffering and discomfort?
9. 300 years of persecution and suffering under the Roman Empire led to a growth of witness. In what ways was this so?
10. What did you learn about Emperor Constantine and his influence on the 3rd century church?
11. How do you see the compromise of individualism, syncretism, and christian nationalism show up in the church today?
12. In what ways does comfort lead to compromise?
13. What comforts do YOU need to confront?
14. What compromises do YOU need to turn from?

APPLY:
1. Have your group process through each part of what we are WITNESSES to (in other words, this is the good news!)
a. INCARNATION–CRUCIFIXION–RESURRECTION–NEW CREATION
2. Name a few comforts that the First B Community has been sitting in
3. Name a few compromises that the First B Community has slipped into
4. Recomit, as a group, to the Way, Truth, and Life of Jesus. Pray for one another–pray for courage to confront your comforts and turn from compromise and joyfully bear witness to the crucified and risen Jesus and His Kingdom in your home, work place, and relational world.