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The DEEP

Money, Money, Money, Muuuney

It can't buy love, but without it you can't buy anything.

Acts 19:21-27 (ESV)

Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

Demetrius’s argument is basically, “Paul says that we deceive people by making these phony gods but, hey, from this business we have our wealth.” This isn’t going to end well for Demetrius and his cronies – and we’ll see that soon – but today let’s look at their sinful attitude. How did they get to this point?

This is all about “looking out for number one.” Money trumps morality. People usually don’t even think about morality unless they’re on a jury. The business of day to day life is business. In the first century, Artemis tourism was the economic engine for Ephesus. The Temple of Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Artemis

Making silver shrines of Artemis was a first-rate gravy train, and the craftsmen were too busy getting rich to think about things like truth and morality. Paul was challenging their world but the idea that Paul might be right never even crossed their minds.

They had more important things to think about.


We should always do charity because if someone doesn’t have food or shelter, asking them to spend time pondering the claims of Christ is almost insulting. If you’re letting their physical needs go unmet, they’re not going to think you care about them.

But today’s lesson is about the other end of the economic spectrum. Rich people tend to be less open to the gospel than poor people. Everything’s going just fine with them, and they don’t need anything else.

But everything’s not really just fine and every once in a while we see the mask slip when someone who “has everything” commits suicide or dies trying to escape their pain chemically.

Who do you know who’s too busy to think about the gospel? Pray for them today. Ask God to give you an opportunity to get to know them better. Ask Him to open their hearts and make them curious.


The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Mike Slay

As a mathematician, inventor, and ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, Mike Slay brings an analytical, conversational, and even whimsical approach to the daily study of God's Word.

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