Mennonite Weekly Review

The Spirit has come, and with it, God’s kingdom. Disciples are multiplying by “leaps and bounds” (Acts 6:1, The Message) —but with that comes a familiar consequence of humans intermingling: conflict. Yet here we also find a story that helps us deal with discord in the kingdom-coming family.

Andres

Getting it right

This particular conflict develops along racial and cultural lines. According to The NIV Study Bible, believers among the Hellenist Jews are from outside Palestine, speak Greek and adhere to a Grecian way of doing things. Believers among the Hebraic Jews speak Hebrew or Aramaic and live by Jewish customs. And the Grecians think their widows are being discriminated against.

So, the apostles call a meeting, acknowledge the problem and propose a solution: choose seven people who “everyone trusts” and are “full of the Spirit and good sense” (2, Message) to “wait on tables” (NIV) and distribute the food. The community thinks this a great idea and chooses them, including a man named Stephen.

It must have worked well, because others notice. “The word of God spread” and the number of disciples again increases. Signs and wonders continue — and not just among the apostles: Stephen also does “great wonders and miraculous signs.”

And that gets the attention of the powers that be, who incite a mob to drag Stephen before the Jewish high court. But Stephen shines, replying to their accusations “with a riveting account of God’s presence and guidance throughout history from Abraham to present day,” says Bonnie Thurston in The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible. They explode into a frenzy and stone him. But even at death, Stephen seeks God’s mercy for those killing him.

The nitty gritty today

We humans, made in the image of God, are broken, and our flaws inevitably lead to conflict. But in Jesus and his kingdom, we are offered a new life that begets a new way of living, as this story reveals.

God’s kingdom operates in surprising ways. “There are, in short, no little people in this kingdom,” says Donald Kraybill in The Upside-Down Kingdom. “In this kingdom, the values of service and compassion replace dominance and command. In this flat family, the greatest are those who teach and do the commandments of God (Matt. 5:19). They love God and others as much as themselves.”

We see this in the attention to the widows, actions in line with the “missional vision” of those living in the early days of kingdom-coming: “to establish communities of faith that lived out the gospel in such a way that new creation was at work in every corner of society,” as Scot McKnight explains in A Community Called Atonement. The kingdom is all about producing right-living communities under God’s reign, reaching deep into life’s ordinary nooks.

As we confront problems in our own communities, we must remember this missional vision — and how to approach power and leadership. “The upside-down perspective uses power to empower others,” says Kraybill. “It seeks to provide others with the resources for self-determination.”

We see that unfold in the story above. Stephen models for us, says Thurston, “not only how to die for Christ, but how to live for him, surrendered and willing to serve wherever and however he asks.”

Unlike those who killed him, Stephen used power to empower others. As we approach our communities like this, we will draw notice — we will be salt, light and a beacon on the hill. That’s the life we’re called to and empowered for.