The Old Ways are Threatened

Stephen, full of grace and powere, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some from what is called the Freedmen's Synagogue, composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilcia and Asia, came forward and disputed with Stephen. But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

Then they persuaded some men to say, "We heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God! They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so they came, dragged him off and took him to the Sanhedrin. They presented false witnesses who said, This man does not stop speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. For we heard him say Jesus the Nazarene, will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us." All who were sitting in the  Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw his face was like the face of an angel. Acts 6:8-15

Isn't it interesting that we can be so intent on defending our patch, our theology, our understanding of God that we fight against new teaching and new experiences in God? The Freedmen's synagogue was probably made up of men from Greek speaking areas who had once been slaves and had either been born Jews in those areas or converted to the Jeswish faith as proselytes. Because they carry a name that signifies them, you could probably be right in assuming that they would, therefore, want to defend thei new found faith and freedom.

Along comes Stephen who turns their world upside down, preaching an end to their precious world as they know it, by bringing in a Messiah that did away with the Old Testament, which they loved and lived. 

Always, when the new comes we are challenged: are we so insecure in our faith that a new way of faith, a completing of the old way, threatens us to the point where we are willing to lie and make false accusations against a single man? Heaven forbid!  We must know our hearts and understand our motives.