Scripture: Acts 19:23-41
Most people feel the impact of a financial hit. Even professional athletes making millions of dollars don’t want to give away fine money for something they said or did. It hurts. What if your family got one less paycheck this month. Would you feel it? I’m sure you would.
That’s what the business owner in our passage in Ephesus was feeling. He was selling less silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. Not too long ago this was once a very stable business because everyone worshipped Artemis and you had to get the silver shrine. There were years of culture and tradition that supported this business.
But that culture and tradition did not stop the gospel from making a significant impact in the community. People were hearing about Jesus from the Christians and believing. Their belief was changing their lives, even down to what they would buy. This lifestyle change of many believers could be felt in the wallet of the silver shrine business owner.
After the business owner made a big deal about it, there was a riot. People showed up and wanted to know what was going on. Interestingly, the mayor of the city was able to help everyone think rationally about the situation and encouraged the people to go through the acceptable means to decide something like this. Verse 35 seems to indicate that he was very convinced that the worship of Artemis was not going anywhere, and this helped the people calm down.
The gospel was making such a practical impact in the lives of the people of Ephesus that many people in the city didn’t know what to do. There was something going on!
Is there something going on in your city because of the gospel? Are we taking the gospel to places that need to feel its impact? It has been said that missions exist because worship doesn’t. Any place, any group of people, that are worshipping someone or something other than the true God is a mission field. This starts in our churches and extends everywhere we go.
Live a gospel centered life that impacts your community and help others do the same.
