What Are We To Do With These Men?

11 April 2026  Acts 4:13-21

Saturday in the Octave of Easter

“What are we to do with these men?” (Acts 4:16)

The days are full of those who listen to Christian witnesses politely, and then say, with the kind of condescension that only the truly patronizing can master, “Well, you’re partly right.”

That describes the leaders, elders and scribes of the people when they saw Peter and John, standing next to the lame man whom they had just healed in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:14).

When it comes to most of things that afflict our times, the embarrassing reality is that we do know better, and we are not doing the best we can. Our problem is not ignorance of the truth, but suppression of it.

Everybody saw what had happened, and no one could possibly deny that it had been a big deal indeed. The leaders, elders and scribes of the people had to admit at least that Peter and John were partly right, or a big deal like this could never have taken place. But they tried to shut them up anyway: “They called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (4:18).

There’s nothing new about “cancel culture.” It has been around as long as there have been people who talk about things being “partly true.” You can’t call anything “partly true” unless you actually know the whole truth, any more than you can say that something looks like the hind leg of a dog unless you know what a whole dog looks like. The people who say about Christian witness that it is “partly true” have a disobliging tendency to become the people who wind up saying, “What is truth?”, wash their hands and walk away – that, or they tell you to shut up and walk away.

“What are we to do with these men?” Tell them to shut up and go away, even if what they are saying is “partly true.”

The problem with a great many people is not that they don’t know the truth, or at least suspect it. They just wish they didn’t, and don’t want to be associated with the people who do. When it comes to most of things that afflict our times, the embarrassing reality is that we do know better, and we are not doing the best we can. Our problem is not ignorance of the truth, but suppression of it. When the people who say and do the most powerful things are regarded as weirdos and troublemakers, what do you do? You can crucify and jail them. You can cancel them, and make it hard for them to get jobs and keep friends. But ever since that first Easter that has never been a permanent solution. The weirdos and troublemakers who testify to Jesus might get discouraged for a time, but they keep coming back.

“What are we to do with these men?” You might try following them.