Being Bad
Acts chapter seven is the account of Stephen’s sermon to the Jewish council. I imagine the council members nodding in agreement with what Stephen was saying right up until he made some personal application. Most of the sermon was simply a recounting of the history of the Jewish people. Stephen started with Abraham and hit most of the high points, spending a good deal of his time talking about Moses. There was nothing to disagree with until…
In verse 41 Stephen got personal. He declared, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit…”
Yes, he went there and as a result, “when they heard these things, they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him…”
Typically, we don’t mind hearing about other people’s faults and failures. It is when someone points the finger at us that we get upset. Or, if we aren’t the get-mad type of people, we might just ignore what is said and pretend it isn’t true. We can be the modern version of the Cherry Sisters.
In the late 1800’s the Cherry sisters, Addie, Effie, Lizzie, and Jessie, we faced with the death of their parents. Their brother, Nathan, ran away from home and was never seen again. The girls had to figure out how to keep things afloat and pay off the mortgage on the family farm in Marion, Iowa.
Effie came up with the idea of performing at the local Daniel’s Opera House since Vaudeville was in vogue at the time. They performed songs, short skits, and readings that they had written. By all accounts it was horrible, but the local folks, being polite and kind, applauded after each part of the show. The Cedar Rapids Gazette wasn’t as kind and wrote a scathing review.
The sisters were enraged and demanded a retraction. Eddie eventually wrote one herself. It was poorly written in what was described as barely recognizable as the English language. But the whole fiasco did net them some money and it also got attention around the nation and before long they had invitations to do shows in other venues.
They began to travel and do shows where people would come just to taunt them and throw things at them while they performed. They even did shows for several weeks at Hammerstein’s Olympia Music Hall in New York. Oscar Hammerstein was on the verge of bankruptcy and was said to have told people, “I have tried the best, and now I will try the worst.”
The strange thing about the Cherry sisters is that despite all the negative reviews, and all the tomatoes thrown at them, they remained convinced throughout their whole careers that they were the most talented actresses to ever perform on an American stage. They never seemed to realize how bad they were.
They never listened to their critics.
There are plenty of nice people around you who will stroke your ego and let you know that you are perfect just the way you are, but when a Stephen steps up and tells you that you are “stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ear, and you always resist the Holy Spirit,” you might want to listen. Before you get mad and pick up a rock, or before you ignore what he says and pretend you are perfect already; take a moment to see if what is said is true.
Then, repent and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sin.
