LIFE SCRIPTS

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 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/act.6.8-15.NIV

Stephen was a waiter of tables. But nothing stopped him from being a minister of the word. Verse 8 starts by identifying him as a man full of God’s grace and power who performed signs and wonders. He was a minister of the Good News. We all are…irrespective of our vocations. God places us in specific places so that we may lift up the banner of Christ in front of others. It’s a privilege but one that attracts hostility just as we see in the case of Stephen. A group of religious leaders called the ‘Synagogue of the Fredmen’ launched an onslaught against him because he was too ‘good’ for them. Verse 10 says that they were no match for Stephen’s wisdom as he engaged them. This must have been annoying to them. So they incited some imposters to lay false claims against him. Remember that Christ also faced false charges from those who claimed He was a blasphemous. But Stephen’s situation mirrored that of Daniel… A man who’s blameless and going on with his business serving God. Yet his seemingly devout life brushes onto the raw nerves of some individuals. It doesn’t matter how good we choose to be. There will always be people who’ll want to hit back at us. Serving God is not a ticket to a smooth life. There will always be opposition and sometimes trumped charges will be brought against us. So Stephen was brought before the Sanhedrin to defend himself. His charges: He belittled Moses and the law by preaching Christ. So the drama stage was set… Just as ‘they’ say, ‘If you want to kill a’ dog’, start by giving it a bad name’.