What Would Christ Say?

Lord, do not hold this sin against them.

 - Stephen, in Acts Chapter 7

Do we realize how big this is? When Stephen, a mere mortal, actually asks God to forgive his tormentors, even as he is being pelted by rocks, to the point of death.

Or even, think about death by stoning. We all know what that is; and in today's culture of TMI, we've all seen videos of live stonings (no doubt, most of us have), which are still practiced regularly in many nations. We're probably drawn to it . . . we've got to see what it looks like. And then we feel pity for the person being stoned. Or is it sincere pity for them, or horror in terms of, "Oh my gosh, I don't want that happening to me!"

In the realm of swift death, stoning takes the longest.

In the realm of slow death, it is relatively quick.

In the realm of painful death . . . it's not near the top, but it's bad enough. I think there's a primordial fear at having things thrown at us, by other people. Just holler "Heads up!" in a crowd . . . or "duck!" We don't want to be hit by flying objects.

Stephen is being killed by a lynch mob. Death by stoning leaves you with very little to go with, if you wanted to charge someone in the crowd with murder. Which person threw the rock that ended the life? And what if there were dozens of people throwing rocks? What if the crowd included respected, influential community leaders?

When Jesus said "Father forgive them," He understood exactly what He was saying. He knew what fate awaited them for their great crime.

But everybody since Christ, that is being persecuted and shouts out "Father forgive them!" . . . Are they sincerely concerned about their tormentors? Or do they just want to look good? Are they simply following Christ, pleased to share His mantle of humility and grace? 

It's all good . . . . whatever your reason, it's always good to follow Christ.