Three Responses to the Gospel...

There are three common responses to the Gospel: repentance and conversion, rebellion and resistance, and apathy. The first response, repentance and conversion, comes to those who are honest with themselves. They examine the evidence, and are touched by God’s power. Their attitude toward truth is one of acceptance, for they know there’s nothing higher, and resistance just brings trouble for those that resist. The next response, rebellion and resistance, comes from those who either blame God for their position in life, or just flat out refuse to believe Him. The protocol behavior for these responders is typically violence, name-calling, and flat out hatred towards those that faithfully follow Jesus. Lastly, for those that are apathetic to the Gospel, they’re attitude stems from not caring. The reason they don’t care typically stems from their lack of care for themselves. Their low self-esteem contributes from either an absent father or parent, and the way to cope is to not get too high or too low in life. This apathy is their defense mechanism for allowing them to not get too close to another person, thus reducing their chances of being hurt. We see two of these responses here in Acts chapter 6. Some of the Jewish religious leaders were converted, because they knew the truth and were honest enough with themselves that God’s calling didn’t fall on deaf ears. We also see some of the rebellious ones become violent and make up lies to discredit an honest, wise, and Holy-Spirit filled man. Their arguments couldn’t stand up against the truth. Have you witnessed these three types of responses to the Gospel? Maybe you responded in one of these ways? Whatever the case, when you’re confronted now, how do you respond?

7 So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too. Acts 6:7

But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. 10 None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke.11 So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, “We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.” 12 This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council. Acts 6:9-12