Paul made three missionary journeys…this one almost got him killed. Here’s what happened:
After his second missions trip Paul returned to Antioch, his home. But his personality and the Holy Spirit wouldn’t let him retire. Before long, he is back out on the road. Antioch is in southeast Turkey on the coastline with the Mediterranean, and Ephesus is all the way on the western coast, right on the Aegean Sea. After traveling around to inland churches, Paul arrives in Ephesus where he stays for several years.
The first notable thing that happened is the discovery of believers who haven’t experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit. This suggests that we can be “believers” but without the power for holy living that comes only from the Spirit. Paul teaches them, and lays on hands and they are filled. NOW the church is ready to grow.
Step two: Paul goes to the Synagogue, so that the Jews have the “first chance” to accept this new revelation from Jesus. As generally happens, most of the Jews resist, and Paul goes to a different building to teach. Sometimes it’s easier to begin new than it is to try and change the minds of people entrenched in old thinking.
For two years the church grows. I don’t know how many believers there are, but there must be quite a few, because their new mindset has changed what they purchase. One quick point here: the natural outcome of accepting Jesus as your Savior is that you will change. Your habits change, your purchases change, your language changes, everything changes. It takes some time, but the change is undeniable. If there is no change, then you haven’t truly accepted Christ in the way that you should. If I put water in the coffee pot and add grounds, I expect coffee. If there is no coffee, something is wrong. And if there is no change, something is wrong.
After two years of change, the local businessmen discover that sales are down. After doing some market research, they discover the reason for diminishing idol sales is coming from the Christians. They are refusing to purchase idols, and are telling others that idols aren’t really God. They come to the conclusion that Christians are bad for business, and since business is king, the Christians have to go. The leader is Artemis, apparently a gifted salesmen and savvy businessman. He incites the entire town to riot, saying that Paul’s teaching is going to ruin the reputation and fame of Artemis, the local goddess. The whole town is in an uproar over this, because it’s like losing the steel mill or textile plant where the whole town works. If Artemis falls on hard times, then there will be austere times ahead for many.
After the crowd reaches a frenzy, they drag several believers into the local venue and apparently want to kill them. The mayor quiets them down after several hours of chanting and ranting. Eventually they go back to their homes, but the damage is done…Artemis has so polarized the town against the believers that it is no longer popular of acceptable to be a Christian.
By the way, the temple of Artemis was 450 feet long, 220 feet wide and 60 feet high. It was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Today, it’s gone. Only the foundation and a single column remain. The church however is still there. Almost no one visits Ephesus today to worship Artemis, but they come by plane, ship, car and rail to see the area where Paul taught and walk through one of the towns mentioned in the New Testament. If it weren’t for Jesus guiding Paul to Ephesus, we wouldn’t even know it ever existed. Because Jesus was interested in it, it remains famous today. One of the letters to the 7 churches in Revelation is addressed to Ephesus.
Embrace God directed, healthy change, or become extinct. The choice is yours.
By the way, if you are an agent of change, don’t expect an easy road. There are some who are so attached to the past, or to the way things run NOW, that they would rather harm you than change. Expect resistance.
Living in, and celebrating an ever changing environment with a never changing God,
PR