We are living in one of the most divisive times in our country’s history. The world is shouting quite loudly that Christians are intolerant bigots who spread hate and some in the church are fearful of how this perception will affect the spread of Christianity. A recent school board meeting in Virginia erupted in shouts and ended with arrests when Christian parents who were speaking out against transgendered policies in their public school system were accused of spreading hate, with one person saying, “Hate was dripping from the followers of Jesus in this room.” Is it hate to voice your opinion or worldview? That certainly seems to be the narrative recently, that simply taking a stand on the genders God created is construed as hatred.

“The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” (John 15:19)

We live in a world that hates us, so we should not be surprised when we hear that the world spews lies against us. It seems that it is becoming a commonplace, even by some in the church, to bow and bend to the accusations of the world. If someone says a Christian is spreading hate, it is immediately apologized for, as if some are more concerned with winning the approval of people instead of God. We need to be certain that we are measuring the actions of Christians against the Scriptures and how Christ told us to behave, not how a world which hates us tells us to behave. In Acts 7, Stephen delivered a scathing 50+ verse rebuke of the Jewish leaders. Consider what the world would say of Stephen if they heard his words today.

“‘You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.’” (Acts 7:51-53)

Stephen had been arrested in Acts 6 because some men from a synagogue lost a debate with him (Acts 6:9) so they got some people to lie about Stephen and accused him of blaspheming God. Stephen was arrested and brought before the high council. This could easily play out today, with someone selectively editing a video, misconstruing someone’s words, or outright lying about someone to make it seem like they were spreading hate. Stephen was asked if these accusations of blasphemy were true and he gave a Christian worldview of history, one that might be called bigoted and hateful today.

“The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.” (Acts 7:54)

Stephen was not tolerated. His condemnation of the Jewish leaders was met with fury and rage. This world is not our friend and it will try to portray Christians as intolerant and full of hate at the drop of a hat. The moment you speak up with a Christian worldview, you may be accused of acting out in hate and misrepresenting God. If this public event involving Stephen and the council happened today, social media and news outlets might cover it by calling Stephen a blaspheming bigot or they might say that Stephen was giving Christianity a bad name because he was spreading hate.

“Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.” (Acts 7:57-58)

Stephen’s story ended with him being stoned to death. He was more concerned with winning the approval of God, not people. We need to make being Christ’s servants our highest goal, not pleasing people. Of course the world will shout at us and condemn us and even lie about us. There will always be people who claim to be Christian but go out and spread hate among people. We must be focused on how we conduct ourselves. We need not worry about what the world will say about us; instead we need to concern ourselves about winning the approval of God. Stephen was so concerned about pleasing God over people that he would not stop speaking Truth even when he was threatened with death. It’s no wonder the man whose feet Stephen was laid before would later go on to write about such dedication.

“Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” (Galatians 1:10)

While people will always sin and there is always a risk of some giving Christians a bad name, none of us are without sin. Our failures are not going to stop the Kingdom of God. Instead of being concerned with pleasing the world and making sure Christians do not offend anyone, we need to be more concerned with winning the approval of God, not people. Spreading the faith is not the same as winning the world’s approval. Christ overcomes the world, not blends in with it. We need to be as bold as Stephen, to speak the Truth even though it may infuriate the world, even though they may lie about what we say and shake their fists at us. We need to be bold enough to speak the truth in the face of cancelation, persecution, and even death.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed

*Please note that we do not read about Stephen yelling uncontrollably; instead he spells out his case in length and then condemns based on the evidence he laid out.

**Also note that Stephen is criticizing the Jewish council: people who had studied the law and prophets and should have known better. Stephen is not holding those who have no knowledge of the law and prophets to the standards of those laws and prophets.