“Hearing voices”

March 4, 2008
Tuesday

Acts 19:23-41

If we read the whole chapter, we find out that Paul has been in Ephesus for over 2.5 years before Demetrious decides to take action. After all, the making of silver shrines and images was big business for Demetrious and his friends. Ephesus was known for its great temple to Artemis (one of the seven wonders of the world at that time) and if Paul’s words discredited the temple, it would be their worship and economic ruin. So Demetrious gets his friends riled up and then the whole town, which was a huge coastal city at the time. They move to the theater, where thousands upon thousands of folks gather for a rally against the Christians. Things did not look good at all and Paul wanted to go into the theater and try to talk with the unruly crowd. His followers talked him out of it, fearing for his life.
Standing outside the Ephesus theater, reading this text aloud, the tourists inside were talking and making noise. What was it like 2,000 years ago, with up to 25,000 people screaming, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”. How scary and intimidating it must have been. Yet Paul still wanted to go inside. I guess that was part of Paul’s directness and unwillingness to step away from a challenge to share the good news of Jesus Christ. But this time, I think his followers were right. As often as we want to jump in and defend Christ or argue for Christ’ sake, sometimes it’s best to trust God to take care of things. God did and it allowed Paul to continue on in his ministry. Sometimes we should enter the fray but other times we must stand down. In all cases we should listen for God’s voice directly or through others.