Faith in Action Goes in Motion

Acts 6:8-8:3

I always thought there was a beauty to the “trench” warfare as shown in our current game of football. The old style of i-form football was great, but with the onset of the west coast offense by Bill Walsh and it became easy to see how motion, movement, and misdirection was better. That fits with Newton’s Law of Motion – bodies in motion stay in motion. This works the same in the church; faith in action is hard to stop. Consider Stephen.

We are finishing up our series on Acts 1-7, the prep stage where God is getting His church ready to be scattered. In Acts 1:8, Jesus promises that we will be His witnesses in Jerusalem (1-7), Judea and Samaria (8-12), and to the ends of the earth (13-28). You can see that progression through the book itself. The church started in Jerusalem with Christ’s resurrection but would now and forever be on the move as the church seeks to fulfill its mandate from Matt 24:14 – the gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached to all the nations and then the end shall come. Jesus is building His church, and the entirety of the New Testament is clear that He wants people from every tongue, tribe, and nation – which means that we are going to have to leave Jerusalem to see this accomplished.

Action is Hard to Stop

We have reached the climax of that story, where Stephen is martyred and we kick off a period of intense persecution that leads all believers (save the original 11 disciples) into the regions beyond. This easily could have put fear and silence into the hearts of the early believers, but God was not shocked or surprised by Stephen’s murder and in fact used it to accomplish good for the believers—it got them moving. And He’s similarly been doing good through Charlie Kirk’s death – there is substantial increase in people seeking God because of what happened.

This whole situation in Acts 7 arose not because of what Stephen was saying, but because of what he was doing. They claimed blasphemy because they couldn’t deny the power of his good works. The only way to stop the impact, they thought, was to stop the action. Kill Stephen, kill the problem. But stopping one person isn’t going to stop the message – God’s plan is far too brilliant for human schemes. God put His team in motion.

We’re a Team on the Move

Last week I introduced you to Robert Jaffray, one of Simpson’s partners in the burgeoning movement that is our larger church family. He was sent to China in 1897, where he led the mission, preached, taught, founded a Bible school, was editor of a magazine and wrote for multiple publications; English and Chinese. He spread out to Vietnam, becoming a hub of Asian mission work and leading a team sending missionaries from China to Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. He trained Asian nationals to take over the leadership, one of whom lived until 1995, sending missionaries to Chinese people to Japan, Australia, Europe, and the Americas. Jaffray’s sending created senders – always in motion. Wikipedia

11 times in Stephen’s speech (7:2-8:3) there is a reference to being sent. Abraham was called to sojourn from his home to a land that wasn’t his, Joseph and then his brothers were sent to Egypt, Moses fled to Midian and then led the Israelites through the desert. Stephen talked about God foreshadowing the Israelites’ exile to Babylon and as he approached the climax of his speech, right after he mentioned Solomon building the temple, he referenced God as not dwelling in a building but having the whole of His creation. Look at v59-60 – it’s almost as if Stephen even knew he was about to be sent – to God! There is a definite theme here – God is sending His followers on the move – the great scattering of all Christians, which starts with the onslaught of persecution.

Next Steps

Here’s the rub – God always intended to scatter the church. Again, 1:8 isn’t a command, but a promise from Jesus that we’ll go to the ends of the earth. We walk chronologically through the book of Acts in exactly that order. The journey of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome includes a brilliant ending to the book with Paul under house arrest sharing the gospel with people of all nations who then leave from his house as believers. The church may have scattered that day in response to persecution but look at where it went – that was fully and completely God’s plan. Faith in action goes in motion!

1. Challenge your lifestyle. Are you living a life of action and motion or are you more of an armchair QB?
2. Consider sending – or supporting people that go. You can do that by tithing to the church and giving to IWs.
3. Explore your calling. How could God use you in Lake Wales? In Florida? In Kosovo or other places?

I remember the first time I was there when a person came to faith in Christ. I saw God work in incredible ways and that has stayed with me and pushed me to keep moving in faith. Faith in action goes in motion: this is how we change the world and build the Kingdom of God.