The Essential Question (Part 3): The Church Is PersecutedSampel

We're in the Jailhouse Now

Prepare: Reflect on some times in your life when you've experienced criticism or even been ridiculed for being a Christian. What did you learn from those experiences, and how did they affect your faith?

Read: Acts 5:17-42

Reflect: I remember standing on a busy street corner in Philadelphia and watching in horror as a race riot almost broke out. A group of white men, who were clearly in the wrong, was taunting a group of black men to fight. Just as things were about to get violent, a slightly built white man in a suit and tie stepped between the two groups. He gently put his hand on the chest of the leader of the black men and said something I couldn't hear. With that, the men stopped, turned around, and left without incident. The courageous man in a suit then disappeared into the crowd, but I've always wondered if he was an angel.

No doubt the apostles wondered what was going on that night in the jailhouse. But in this case, the Bible confirms it was an angel who sprung them loose and instructed them to "tell the people the full message of this new life" (Acts 5:20). They responded, Yes, sir! One of the strongest motivations for serving God occurs when our knowledge of him is ignited by an unexpected experience with him. Has that ever happened to you?

In some ways, it's not hard to understand the reaction of the religious leaders; after all, part of their job was to protect people from heresy. But their irritation was more than just a distaste for proselytizing. What fueled the Sadducees' rage was their jealousy (Acts 5:17). In Israel at that time, the high priest was "the man," and together with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and teachers of the law, he called the shots. The real problem was that these followers of Jesus were taking away the one thing the religious leaders wanted most: control.

Dictators of every age, whether political or religious, have become jealous, irrational, and violent when Christians make clear they are under a higher authority (Acts 5:29). But we can take heart that opposition has never permanently stopped the growth of God's kingdom. In fact, it has only empowered the followers of Jesus and strengthened the church, as we see in this passage. Those who want to serve God today are likely to encounter opposition, though perhaps not as directly as these apostles did.

In the midst of this struggle, Gamaliel, who incidentally was the apostle Paul's original teacher (Acts 22:3), emerged as a voice of reason. He called for an executive session and attempted a little strategic "boardsmanship," advising his colleagues to take a wait-and-see approach (Acts 5:38-39). How many arguments in the church today could benefit from such advice? This passage reminds us not to be too quick to criticize the actions or methods of other Christians today. God may be at work in ways that we aren't recognizing.

Apply: What are some other "obey God rather than men" decisions in the Bible or church history? Do you face such a decision now? What do you sense God prompting you to do?