Updated Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Formations lesson for April 27: Uncompromising Witness

By R. Kevin Johnson

Focal Passage: Acts 4:23-31

The preschoolers in our church's weekday learning center know something about proclaiming the faith with boldness. During their weekly chapel services, the children recite the lessons learned with deep conviction. At music time, they throw their heads back like Peanuts characters and sing the songs about Jesus that we have learned together. The four and five-year-olds even recite the fruit of the spirit whenever they see me in the hallway and I gesture our sign for a watermelon.

One of our preschoolers stands out. You can count on this young man to share his faith under any circumstance. If called upon in worship to repeat a new song that his mom has taught him at home, he will take the microphone and sing with confidence. If asked to tell a Bible story that he learned in class, he will stop in his tracks, wait to get everyone's attention, and then retell the story with staggering accuracy. Our church family encourages this child's precocious nature and we are all very proud of both his ability and his willingness to tell the truth of the gospel.

In the preamble to our scripture lesson this week, believers in the early church were facing persecution for proclaiming the message of Jesus. In fact, Peter and John (deemed "uneducated" and "ordinary" by the rulers, elders and priests) were ordered to stop teaching in the name of Jesus, even though it was obvious that a "notable sign" had been done through their ministry. Their response was bold, "Whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard" (v. 4:19-20).

However, Peter and John were wise to join with other believers to pray for strength for continued bold witness. The Lord heard the prayers of those who were gathered and all were filled with the Holy Spirit. This invocation of the Spirit resulted in the courageous telling and retelling of the message of hope found in the person and work in Jesus Christ.

My prayer is that those of us who are more mature in the faith can learn a lesson from our children about how to share God's love with others. It seems to me that the disciples' example to pray for this uncompromising faith is an important first step in the process.