The Gospel has a way of upsetting the applecart of false religion. On his third missionary journey, Paul is in Ephesus, the home of the Greek goddess Artemis. Today’s reading clearly shows the true nature of false religion.
In Acts 19:23-24, we see that false religion is the backbone of the Ephesian economy. Demetrius, a silversmith, employs many local craftsmen who manufacture shrines and related trinkets of Artemis. The Gospel is disrupting the false god super-market, and revenue is rapidly declining. Demetrius organizes an emergency meeting of the silversmith’s guild and says in Acts 19:25-26, “…Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business.” (NLT) In other words, false religion admittedly traffics in the souls of people. Demetrius gets to the bottom line; the Gospel has exposed that Artemis is a fraud. (Acts 19:27)
It is easy for this account in Acts to seem distant from our current day or for false religion to be relegated to far-flung regions only missionaries visit. But false religion of this nature can be everywhere the Gospel of Jesus Christ is compromised and commercialized. Even Christianity, in many (not all) contexts, has become compromised into a business, a machine that constantly needs feeding with revenue from the latest “Christian” marketing gimmicks. The Apostles had none of this, yet the Scriptures say it was the testimony of many that the Gospel had turned the world upside down! Imagine doing that with no shiny “anything.”
I am reminded of the simplicity of Jesus’ words—words that get to the bottom line: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16, KJV)
Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Acts 18:19-19:41