What impact are we having?

“When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s travelling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theatre together. Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theatre. The assembly was in confusion: some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there.” (Acts 19:28-32 NIV)

Can you imagine something like this happening today? A crowd worked into a frenzy, grabbing Christians, rushing into a stadium and shouting a slogan in unison for around two hours? Although it was the theatre in Ephesus, a stadium is probably the closest we have in our culture to something this size. The theatre in Ephesus had a seating capacity of around 24,000. It faced their harbour and was surrounded by hills. As a result this chanting would have been heard all over Ephesus. What caused the people to get worked up into this frenzy?

It all went back to Paul and his companions who visited this area to teach the good news of Jesus – and they remained for over two years. Paul had daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus – and his teaching made quite an impact.

The local pagan goddess was Artemis – a temple to Artemis was just outside the city and is regarded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Ephesian Artemis was a localised version of the goddess and looked on as the protector of the city. Naturally, a business had sprung up by local craftsmen who made silver shrines to be sold to those who visited the city.

This led to the problem with Paul’s teaching. What he taught about Jesus had such an impact on those who heard him that it was destroying the livelihood of those who profited from the worship of the pagan goddess. This is what one silversmith said about Paul’s influence:

“And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.” (Acts 19:26-27)

This led to the mob rushing into the theatre, grabbing what Christians they could find, and then shouting for two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” What an impact the Christians in this Roman city had made on the entire population of the area!

When I read this I can’t help but wonder: what about us? Are we making any impact on those around us? Do those in our communities even know we exist, let alone know what we stand for? Do they realise that what we believe and teach stands in direct opposition to the lifestyle and belief of most around us? Maybe the better question would be, do they really care?

When I reflect on what happened in Ephesus, this is what comes to my mind: Jesus had made an impact on the Christians who lived in this city, both in what they believed and how they lived. They did not compromise either their teaching or their lifestyle because it went against what those around them believed and how they lived. Their concern was following Jesus and showing him through how they lived.

If we only had this conviction perhaps we could make a greater impact on our society. Think about it!

Photo of theatre in Ephesus by Jon Galloway

Readings for next week: Acts 18-22