I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 7-8

So, now we have Stephen, the first martyr and another confrontational character.  First he got into an argument with members of the Synagogue of Freed Slaves.  When those men could not defeat his logic, they got some people to lie about what Stephen had said (sound familiar).  On the basis of these lies about what he had said, Stephen was arrested.  Then instead of responding to the allegations, Stephen began preaching to the council.  His sermon was even more confrontational than the two sermons by Peter I talked about two days ago.  Stephen accused those to whom he was speaking of deliberately disobeying God’s law.  He did not back down from this confrontational approach even as they stoned him to death.

I want to take a close look at Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch, especially how it contrasts with Stephen’s approach (and why).  Philip was led to take the road from Jerusalem to Gaza.  As he was walking along he observed the eunuch traveling by chariot.  Again we are told that he was led to approach him.  When Philip heard the eunuch reading the Scripture, he asked him if he understood what he was reading.  Philip then began explaining the good news about Jesus.  Philip is not confrontational.  Why? Well, the eunuch was seeking answers, he knew that he did not know.  Both Stephen and Peter were preaching to audiences who thought that they knew the answers.  So, when speaking to those confident of their righteousness, we must confront them about their sinfulness, but when speaking to those seeking God, we should meet them where they are and show them the path from there to salvation. The challenging part is knowing the difference.