In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
-Acts 6:1-7
Racism is not a new issue. We see back in the day of the early church they also struggled with racism. Some of the Greek Christians were accusing the Jewish Christians of being overlooked by the church’s welfare system.
What’s the solution? They picked godly men who would rise above the racist attitudes of the day to serve both the Greek Christians and the Jewish Christians. Laws that prevent racist acts are great. But what’s even better is the Spirit of God changing people’s hearts to be less racist. We don’t just need laws, we need heart surgery and only God can change hearts.
For those of you who have been posting about racial justice, and going to marches, and discussing social justice issues with others, have you been praying? Have you asked the Lord of the Universe to change people’s hearts? Are you trusting in imperfect human wisdom and ingenuity over God’s power to change hearts?
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