We love what’s familiar. Familiar means comfortable, and rare is the person who enjoys stepping outside of their comfort zone. There’s nothing inherently wrong with sticking with what’s familiar, but when it comes to practicing our faith there’s an incredibly powerful tendency to believe that the traditions and practices we’re familiar with are our link to God. Tradition and custom quietly replaces the Spirit of Christ. It happened in Jesus’ day too.
Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Acts 6:8-15
The Sin of Changing Customs
Stephen is accused of two things; speaking against the temple and law and changing the customs that had been passed down through the generations. Not long before Jesus had been accused of similar things, particularly for saying he would destroy “this temple” and raise it up in three days. Both Stephen and Jesus are killed, at least from their accuser’s perspective, for this heretical changing of custom.
Let’s be careful that in our slick, modern churches we don’t become Stephen’s accusers, attacking someone who is filled with the Spirit because they’re changing customs that we’re familiar with and doing things differently than we like.
We might never take someone out and stone them like the elders and teachers did in Acts 6 to Stephen, but we will readily gossip, blog, and sermonize when someone appears to be changing the customs handed down to us by getting rid of Sunday school, advocating cell churches, encouraging speaking in tongues, or a dozen other things.
For the younger generations – let’s also be careful that we don’t disdain those who are still locked into the traditions handed down to them, whether that mean organ-led hymns for worship or merely a more traditional mindset. Note that the elders and teachers of the law in Acts 6 had to trump up false witnesses to accuse Stephen. The reality was that though he was doing something new he was not speaking against the law and the temple and wasn’t trying to throw out all of the customs.
Instead of using our traditions as the litmus test to determine whether or not a person or group is legitimate, let’s look to see if Jesus and his Spirit are at work. Tradition and custom aren’t bad, but they aren’t God either.
Proof of the Spirit
So how can you tell if Jesus and his Spirit are at work through a person or group? The Bible has plenty to say about this, but there are at least four proofs that are explicit in this passage.
1. The power of God is with them
“Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people”
It was evident to everyone around Stephen that there was something supernatural at work. Great signs and wonders were taking place and, apparently, people were coming to faith in Jesus. If the power of God isn’t active in and through the person or group, it’s probably not of the Spirit.
Worth noting here – the power of God is more than just miracles. It also is power for a holy life and for each of the following proofs.
2. They have supernatural wisdom and reason for what they’re doing
“they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.”
Stephen was able to debate and confute the elders and teachers through the wisdom he had received from the Holy Spirit. If the person or group can’t defend the changes they’re making, it may not be of God.
3. They have proof from scripture that what they’re doing lines up with God’s plan
Not only does Stephen have supernatural wisdom, he also has the clear insight and ability to communicate from the Scriptures that what he and the other followers of Jesus were doing fit into the story of redemption as written. His sermon, not quoted above, traces the entirety of the story arc of the Torah and culminates in Christ. If someone is changing tradition and custom without any grounding or reasoning from God’s word, it may be that the Spirit’s not in it.
4. Their life reflects Jesus
“All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”
Jesus himself said that you would know whether a tree was good or bad based upon its fruits. Clearly Stephen’s life and action reflected the good fruit of the Spirit, to the point that his face was angelic with God’s glory as he was put to death. If someone(s) is changing tradition or custom and their living doesn’t reflect what they’re called to in light of Jesus, it may not be legit.
God is at work in a million ways throughout this world. Let’s not allow our tradition-love to blind us to the glory of Jesus that is in the vast array of cultures and customs found in His church. Instead let’s be people who look with earnest joy for signs of the Spirit’s work in every place. Let’s be slow to accuse and quick to love, trusting the Good Shepherd to care for his sheep and keep them on track.
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