Sometimes, we just don’t want to hear it. After you’ve explained to your child why you won’t allow them to do something, they respond with continuing arguments. You just don’t want to hear it. When your neighbors are blasting music at 11PM, you just don’t want to hear it. When your co-worker gives you the same excuse over and over, you just don’t want to hear it.
But there have been times that the very things people don’t want to hear need to be heard. When a doctor tells a patient that they must change their lifestyle or suffer severe health problems, sometimes the patient refuses to listen. When Christians try to share Christ in hostile parts of the world, they are forcibly silenced. Perhaps when you’ve tried to show a brother or sister the error of their ways, they’ve responded in anger. People close their ears because they don’t want to hear the essential and life-saving truths they need.
Today, we are studying the speech of Stephen, the first Christian to lose his life for speaking the truth of the Gospel. As he stood before the Jewish leaders of the time, he pointed out many things that they did not want to hear. He explained that the blessings they enjoyed were not proof that God was pleased with them. He explained that following the law of Moses, the core of Hebraic piety, didn’t make them right with God. He explained how their traditions of worship weren’t the entirety of their relationship to the Father. Finally, he told them how, in their arrogance, they had crucified the Savior sent by God. This is what led to Stephen’s death. Today may be challenging, but truth needs to be heard, no matter how unpleasant. Let’s study the very truths that many do not want to hear.