Speaking our mind without causing a riot?

Riots. The dictionary says: The practice of people destroying property, being disruptive, and behaving violently in a large group. Sometimes they are politically motivated; people are upset because their wishes are violated or extremely important to them. Sometimes they involve a group of fans upset because their team didn’t win. The cause of a riot may not be selfish but usually is.

The New Testament describes a riot. It happened in Ephesus, a commercial, intellectual and religious center. This city boasted one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the ornate temple of Diana, the goddess of the Ephesians.

An Ephesian silversmith who made silver shrines for their idol worship was upset with Paul who preached that gods made with hands are not gods. He told his workers that their trade’s reputation was in danger as was the temple of their goddess. When they heard this, they were enraged and cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Artemis is the Greek version of Diana.)

So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

The text does not tell how he did it, but the town clerk quieted the crowd. He told them, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly. (Acts 19:23–41)

The focus is on the riot and the threat to the livelihood of those who crafted the idols, but part of the town clerk’s speech fascinates me. He said that Paul and his Christian friends were “neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess.” In other words, he made false statements to appease the crowd. Paul had said that gods made by hands are not gods, a definite statement against their worship, but this ‘chief executive officer’ wanted to protect these rioters from prosecution and was willing to lie to do it. Had Paul been present, he would have defended his position. He was against their idolatry and he had nothing favorable to say about their goddess. Had he talked to the mob, we can only guess the consequences.

This story says something to me about the attitude of those who are threatened by faith in Christ. If this man was willing to lie about what Paul believed and said, the same thing can happen to Christians today. We need to walk and talk in the power of the Holy Spirit and let the Lord deal with the consequences. God protected Paul from a mob that may have killed him; it was not his time to die. I must ask myself if I am listening as well as He did? Would I speak out of turn and be in danger? Would I speak up when I should and be in even greater danger?

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Lord Jesus, Christians in this country tend to think we are reasonable safe. However, the reality is that we are misunderstood, misquoted, and talked of as doing and saying things that make us appear differently than we are. The tendency is to keep our mouths shut and avoid trouble, but it seems possible that You desire that we be more like Paul.

Today’s thankful list . . .

Glad to be in a country where we can speak our minds.

Glad that God constantly renews my mind so I can say what He puts in there.

Getting to the dock 65 minutes before the 10 am ferry and told we could go on the 9 am one!

A lovely drive through the delta and into the mountains.

Meeting up with our son and his wife and two of our great-granddaughters.

Our son cooked supper for everyone.

A good visit on the deck watching the girls play in the lake.

Subway cookies and watermelon!

God can use anything to protect His people

At least once people became upset with Christianity for economic reasons. Acts 19 tells of a threatening situation to those whose wealth depending on making shrines to an idol worshiped in Ephesus. When they heard about the Gospel and about Paul denouncing idolatry, they feared their idol ‘Artemis’ would be “deposed from her magnificence” and they would lose their livelihood. A protest started and a crowd pushed into the theater dragging Paul’s companions with them.

But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. (Acts 19:30–31)

The Asiarchs were high-ranking civic officials in the province of Asia, an unexpected source of protection. What happened next was two hours of yelling and crying out support for Artemis, but the town clerk eventually quieted the crowd. He reminded them of their history with this idol then said,

Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” (Acts 19:36–40)

In other words, if they wanted to get rid of the Christians, they needed to be careful of not breaking the law themselves. Their fears and self-centered motivation would not stand up in a court of law. Their rioting was putting them in further jeopardy. Besides, was not their city “a temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?” If what they believed was true, then let their god take care of this ‘enemy’ or threat to their livelihood.

This story reminds me of a political situation in this week’s news. Our prime minister was accused by another political leader of several illegal actions. He reacted by threatening to sue his accuser of libel. However, the accuser is certain of his accusation so is daring the leader to take him to court. His response is much like the one posed by the town clerk. “Let the legal system decide.” If wrong is wrong, it will come out. If this is libel, that will come out.

These days it is not often that Christians are protected by law or by non-Christians. We are accused of many things, mostly that we hate or down-grade some groups of people. Our issue is not the people but their actions. What they do is against the will of God because those actions are harmful. Are we certain about our stand? Certain enough to invite a legal trial that proves our point?

The Word of God is the ground we stand on. I know that I can have personal biases too, so need to watch where my convictions come from. I also need to be certain that when I point fingers, I’m not guilty of something myself. I cannot say hate idolatry is wrong if I have my own set of idols, or hatred is wrong if I am hateful. I must always remember that when I speak against sin, that I am also a sinner.

This means the entire human race falls into the same category before God. We all sin and fall short of His glory. (Romans 3:23). Apart from Christ, none of us have any hope. In Christ, there is forgiveness and grace, new life and the promises of God. He is the only division line. Apart from Him, like Paul said, I am the worst of sinners.

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Jesus, You remind me often that finger-pointing has three fingers pointing back at me. I can so easily criticize others but when brought before the only righteous Judge, I am just as guilty. Without Christ, I’ve no claim. Only in You can I say I am forgiven and washed clean. Give me Your righteous attitude toward others, Christian and otherwise. You alone know the heart and You alone are able to change lives, even bring idolaters to worship only You. And as the story of the riot in Ephesus shows, You alone can protect Your people from hate and destruction.