Acts: The Revolution of FaithParaugs

A Distinctively Different Life

“So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” Acts 6:7

It could never be said that Adele Gaboury's neighbors were less than responsible. When her front lawn grew hip-high, they had the local boy mow it down. When her pipes froze and burst, they had the water turned off. When the mail spilled out over the front door, they called the police.

The only thing they didn't do was to check to see if she was still alive. She wasn't. On Monday, police climbed her crumbling brick stoop, broke into the side door of her little blue house, and found what they believed to be the 73-year-old woman's skeletal remains sunk in a 5-foot-high pile of trash, where they had apparently lain perhaps for as long as four years.

It's not really a very friendly neighborhood, said Eileen Duncan, 70, once a close friend of Gaboury's, whose house sits just less than 20 feet from the dead woman's house. I'm as much to blame as anyone. She was alone and needed someone to talk to, but I was working two jobs, and I was sick of her coming over at all hours. Eventually, I stopped answering the door.

What a tragic story of an elderly widow woman who died alone, and it took four long years for anyone to know she was gone. Bottom line, if Adele lived in a neighborhood where the first Christians lived, this would not have happened, not on their watch. The book of Acts is a story about a revolution of faith.

Acts 2:47 tells us, the Lord was adding daily. One area that the church experienced explosive growth was among widows, like Adele. In Acts 6, the church in Jerusalem was having a hard time keeping up with the number of widows who were joining the church, not only amongst Jewish converts, but also a group of widows called Hellenistic Jews, which were women who were born in lands other than Israel who spoke and lived like a Greek.

What were the circumstances these widows experienced? Women were devalued, abortion was legal and unsanitary and often required in women over forty, women’s mortality rate was high, infanticide of little girls was legal, and widows were required to remarry.

There was a complaint that the church was overlooking the Hellenistic Jewish widow, so the leadership responded by adding a new layer of workers to meet this need. And here is what they said, "Brothers and sisters, choose seven men among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer in the ministry of the word. This proposal pleased the whole group. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them."

Stephen and the six others who were chosen performed work with these widows. Women were treated with dignity. They were given a choice. The outcome? They flocked to the church in overwhelming numbers. There ended up being more women in the church than men, and the women started to marry pagan men, who then came to faith in Christ.

These new Christian families stayed together, didn't abort their children or kill their daughters, and they all grew up and repeated the cycle. Over time, the population of Christians overtook the pagan world. By living distinctly different lives, Stephen and the six other men profoundly impacted the lives of men, women, and families.

Those of us today who have embraced Jesus and have received the Holy Spirit are a part of this revolution of faith. We are called to live distinctively different lives. We do not get our cues from the world, but from the Word. The Word calls us to stand up for women and widows like Adele Gaboury.

We don't abort our children or engage in infanticide of our children. Husbands love their wives, and wives love their husbands. We raise our children in the teachings of Jesus.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, give me your heart for the lost and lonely. Even today, please give me the opportunity to minister to someone in need and impact the lives of families for your glory.