Acts 19
Read: Acts 19
Some of the most difficult people to reach with the gospel are those who worship other gods. Many of them are blinded by fear and the loss of wealth or status. Here in this chapter, we read about Demetrius, who is a silversmith and idol maker who is trying to turn the city of Ephesus against Paul and the Christians. If Christ is preached and believed, Demetrius will be out of a job because no one will buy his idol statues anymore. Because of this, he tries to start a riot by painting a negative picture of Paul and the message he is preaching.
Money is a strong motivator and we see that here. I don’t know if Demetrius really believed that his hand made gods were gods or not. However, he knew that if people came to the belief that they were not gods, he would no longer be able to make money selling them. Money can be a huge hindrance for someone believing the gospel. Many people live crooked, yet luxurious lives. They have made their financial success on the backs of the people that they have taken advantage of. Here, whether Demetrius actually believes the idols are gods or not, he is certainly taking advantage of naive people who think that by buying these statues, they will gain some sort of blessing or favor with a god.
If Demetrius really did believe that the idol gods that he made were gods, it shows how blind he really was. Sadly there are many people in the world who worship things like this. Here in western society, we don’t see it as much, but in some parts of the world people still live and make a living much the same way that Demetrius did. The sad thing that blows my mind is that people actually think a human made god could do something for them. If the human made it, wouldn’t that make the human the god of the statue god? It is preposterous to imagine a human made god or representation of a god being able to do anything other than sit on a shelf and collect dust. Unfortunately, some of these people pray to these idol statues with more reverence than we who know the one true God revere him.
At the center of both of these things is fear. There is a fear that if they believe in Jesus, they won’t have money, there is a fear that the god will curse them if they do not worship it, there is fear that if they follow Jesus their family will disown them. But the truth is, Jesus frees us from fear! Jesus is worth more than money, he is the the only one who can break the curse of sin and death that holds each of us at ransom, and he invites us into a new family to be his children with many brothers and sisters “from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Revelation 7:9). Jesus is worth it.
