Every mother wants her child to make a splash in
this world. Every mother wants her child
to be great. Of course, goodness is
different from greatness. For example,
Amelia Earhart, Galileo, Harriet Tubman, and Billy Graham did great
things. Imagine how their mothers
felt! But great things are not always
good. Jack the Ripper, Lizzie Borden,
Hitler, and Queen Jezebel did great things too—terrible, but great. Imagine how their parents felt about the effect
they had on the world! Yes, we want our
children to make a splash—but we want it to be a good one.
Every life is like a
ripple in a pond, spreading out to make more and more ripples that will
eventually cover the surface of the water.
The bigger the splash, the more ripples we make. Sometimes we can’t see where all those
ripples will go, how our lives will touch other people. Stephen’s
was one such life. As one of the first
deacons in the church, he served and testified boldly. In the seventh chapter of the Book of Acts,
we read about the martyrdom of Stephen.
What a tragedy that his life was snuffed out, but what an impact he
made!
Rather than stamping
out the witness of Christians, Stephen’s martyrdom inspired courage and
commitment in others. His testimony gave
others confidence to share their faith, and the church continued to grow. History has always shown this to be true:
instead of the intended effect of squelching faith, martyrs motivate
believers. Stephen’s ripples went well beyond
his own life, making positive change in the church. Though we don’t want to invite martyrdom, we
do want to a positive ripple-effect for ourselves and for our children.
One splash that Stephen
never intended to make was the increased persecution of the church. One student of Rabbi Gamaliel, a Pharisee
named Saul, was present at Stephen’s stoning.
Acts 8:1-4[i]
says:
Saul was in
hearty agreement with putting him to death.
And on that day a great persecution began against the church in
Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men buried
Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging
the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he
would put them in prison. Therefore, those who had
been scattered went about preaching the word.
Stephen’s martyrdom
inspired believers, but it also inspired Saul to persecute Christians all the
more. Yet this persecution served the
opposite purpose of spreading the faith even farther. Because of the persecution, the church that
had heretofore been confined to Jerusalem spread beyond that city. Christians scattered all over, taking the
Gospel with them, preaching the word wherever they went.
Sometimes tragedy
comes into the lives of believers. Just
because a person becomes a Christian, that’s no guarantee of a pain-free
existence. In fact, more struggle may
come because of faith, as all the persecuted church throughout the ages can
attest. Stephen’s mother had to bury her
son. So did the mothers of the
twenty-one Egyptian Christians who were beheaded for their faith this past
February. Besides martyrdom, how many
millions of Christians suffer other kinds of persecution for their faith? We don’t understand why we have to go through
these kinds of things, but we do know that Romans 8:28 tells us, “…God
causes all things to work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Even these kinds of tragedies can lead to triumph, if we trust God.
Along with Stephen’s
death and the increased persecution of the church came a scattering of
believers that led to more opportunities to share the Gospel in different
places. The church was forced to get out
of its comfort zone and made to leave Jerusalem, therefore fulfilling Jesus’ prediction
in Acts 1:8: "You will receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My
witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even
to the remotest part of the earth.”
Like ripples in a pond the believers spread out into the surrounding
countryside, and eventually throughout the whole known world. Now, there are very few places on the planet
where Christians cannot go, and literally nowhere that the Gospel can’t go
through modern technology. Like concentric
circles in water, God calls us all to make a splash for Jesus, and then follow
His mission in ever-increasing range and devotion.
As the warmer weather
turns hot, it’s time to open up the swimming pools. In the pools, everybody wants to make a
splash. One of my earliest memories is
when I was four years old. My brother
and I had taken only a couple of swimming classes, and we were playing in the
pool in our backyard. Something happened,
and I was in over my head—literally. My
brother tried throwing me something, but all can remember was my head that kept
going under the water and the panic that set in as I couldn’t breathe. I remember trying to swim, trying to tread
water, but only splashing. Then, my
mom’s hands were on me, pulling to safety, holding me up. The good news is that no matter how big our
splash is, and no matter how far our ripples go, God will always be there to save
us, to hold us up. I pray that you’ll
make a splash for Jesus—and that whatever kind of splash it is, that you’ll
trust God to hold you.
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