Spreading the Gospel Affects the Culture and the Economy
At that time a great disturbance took place concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought a great deal of business to the craftsmen. He gathered these together, along with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this business. And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded and turned away a large crowd, not only in Ephesus but in practically all of the province of Asia, by saying that gods made by hands are not gods at all. There is danger not only that this business of ours will come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as nothing, and she whom all the province of Asia and the world worship will suffer the loss of her greatness.”
Acts 19:23–27 NET Read More
After Paul preached in Ephesus for two years, the religious climate of the city started to change. Remember that from here “all who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.” Acts 19:10 The Gospel was moving through Ephesus and people were changing their lives because of it. After seeing $7.5mil worth of magic books voluntarily burned, Demetrius is getting nervous about his idol business.
Christians can affect their city in many ways. Either by advocacy and activism, like when my neighborhood association helped keep an un-needed nightclub out of our neighborhood. Or by working within the government structures, like when people at the courthouse tell you how to jump through every hoop to get all of the right permissions to renovate a house for Community One.
Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth. You’ve probably heard the part about salt being a preservative and helping to keep things from rotting. Salt also spreads, like yeast, throughout whatever it is applied to. There is a group of Christians that go out to clubs at 3:00 a.m., as people are leaving, and they help people get into cabs or drive them home. In that city, the number of drunk driving and violence has dropped significantly. The Gospel has spread from the night club crowd to the thankful police department. Even the hospitals have noticed the impact of the Gospel there.
Demetrius, of course, isn’t happy that he might lose his business making idols of Artemis. This comes to the hard truth that some businesses really do need to just go away. Talk to older Christians around Evansville about how they were glad when a strip club on Franklin street was finally shut down. Talk to some neighbors around Glenwood about the before and after effects of Apollo Liquor’s blight on their street. Many neighborhoods have a story about a business that closed and how it benefited the people all around it.
We don’t have a record of it, but at some point, Paul taught that those idols were worthless. We also don’t have a record of him preaching that those magic books should all be destroyed. More than those things, he taught that Jesus was the Savior of the world. There may come time for us to teach about how little help the casino really brings to our city or the foolishness of taking poor people’s money for lottery tickets, but before that, we can teach about the Savior of the world, who gives us a new measure of what is important.
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