17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. Acts 5.
As we go through Acts, One thing we see over and over again
is that culture changing faith almost always brings with it opposition. When we begin to catch a glimpse of God and
his vision for us, and when we have the Spirit of God living in us it will
change us. Once we have been changed,
some people will be drawn to us because they are looking and wanting something
different than what they see in the world.
Others, however, will be threatened by the changes they see and that
brings opposition. What I love is the
boldness that the first followers had in the midst of opposition. Boldness to speak the truth to the people at
Pentecost; boldness to tell the High Priest and the Sadducees, “We must obey
God rather than men.” Boldness to keep living out their faith even in the midst
of hostility and persecution. The apostles do not seem at all surprised that
they are encountering opposition and it should not surprise us either. In fact
they went out saying, “Uh huh, Oh yea! We suffered for Christ” ~ S. Elaine
translation~ Jesus said that it would
happen and we see the evidence of it all through Acts. While none of enjoy opposition, we can look at this and be encouraged
because if they could be bold and endure opposition and remain strong, in the center
of opposition and threats, then so can we.
After all, we serve the same God they serve and we have the same Spirit
dwelling in us as they had. Guess what, in 2,000 years he has not changed. Truth is if we want to change a culture, then
we have to be willing to face disapproval and remain strong. So when we start to live for God and some
people oppose us we should take heart. In
spite of everything, this is nothing new that we should be taken by surprise
