Reflect:
Acts 6:8-15, 7:1-60, 8:1-8
“And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.” (Acts 6:8)
“But I’m just a layman!” Those words may not be spoken openly, but I think they represent an attitude that is fairly prevalent among average churchgoers. Behind those words is this mentality: “I am not a pastor. I don’t have theological training. I’m not gifted. I’m not able to do much more than simply show up and offer moral support.”
I am glad Stephen didn’t feel that way. He, too, was “just a layman.” He was not theologically trained nor did he have a special calling to be a pastor. But out of the ranks of the rank and file churchgoers in Jerusalem, this faithful man was selected by his peers, along with six others, to be a deacon—one who would take care of the daily organizational demands of this growing church so the Apostles could concentrate on their prayer and preaching ministry.
Stephan was an ordinary man set apart by the Holy Spirit for an ordinary job—to wait on tables (Acts 6:2). However, there is nothing ordinary about a simple ministry assignment in the church. Behind ordinary jobs the Holy Spirit has extraordinary purposes in mind—as we find out in Stephen’s story.
Stephen’s ministry in the church was brief—he was martyred in the following chapter—but his brevity was oh so bright! Stephen, “just a layman”, selected to wait on tables, was used by God to perform great wonders and outstanding signs in the church.
Why was Stephen, who was “just a layman”, so significantly used by God? The text points out that it was his faith. That was the key to his extraordinarily powerful life. He was full of faith! Not just saving faith—every Christian has that. It was that little measure of faith that God has given every believer, including you and me, that Stephen took and leveraged for all it was worth. Stephen turned his mustard seed faith into an “I’m-taking-God-at-his-word-and-living-my-life-accordingly-in-scorn-of-the-consequences” kind of faith, and that faith transformed this ordinary man into a fired up layman.
Great miracles and outstanding signs are reserved not only for pastors and evangelists, but for ordinary, everyday laymen, too—including you. In whatever you are doing, as simple and ordinary as it may seem, offer your measure of faith for the Holy Spirit’s use and he will use you for extraordinary purposes.
“God loves to effect His greatest works by means tending under ordinary circumstances to produce the very opposite of what is to be done.” ~Christopher Wordsworth
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