The Horrible Miracle of Apollonius, Acts 19, and 2020

This model of the Temple of Artemis, at Miniatürk Park, Istanbul, Turkey, attempts to recreate the probable appearance of the third temple. Wikipedia.

Once upon a time there was a booming commercial city called Ephesus. Jobs were plentiful through a local silver mine which employed not only miners but also was the source for refiners and artisans. Tourists came from all parts of the world to see the city center where there was a massive structure. It was considered one of the seven wonders of the world - the temple of Artemis.

Like many tourist destinations, a number of cottage industries pop up around the temple. As one approached the temple, you would be invited to purchase little silver replicas of the goddess, Artemis. Perhaps as a souvenir, but probably more that it is understood that if you wanted to please the gods, you would buy a statue and make a donation. 

Ephesus was a port city, the crown jewel of a temple, and a founding myth of their goddess. Being such a city with trade and commerce, Ephesus was very cosmopolitan and took a lot pride in their past as being the most important cities to ancient Greece - it was the center of the world for a long time.

But that was a long time ago. 

In this city, there are a number of preachers peddling all sorts of religions and claims. And just outside of town was a tent maker named Paul who was talking about a man named Jesus. For two years Paul keeps talking about Jesus and has gathered quite a number of people following what is simply called “the Way”. 

Followers of the Way were less interested in the temple center than they used to be. There was a decline in the number of statues sold and a loss of revenue. Fewer donations and sacrifices made at the temple. The Way followers rejected the silver statues and, to the shock of these silversmiths, the followers of the Way began to convince others to do the same. 

24 There was a silversmith named Demetrius. He made silver models of Artemis’ temple, and his business generated a lot of profit for the craftspeople. 25 He called a meeting with these craftspeople and others working in related trades and said, “Friends, you know that we make an easy living from this business. 26 And you can see and hear that this Paul has convinced and misled a lot of people, not only in Ephesus but also throughout most of the province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands aren’t really gods. 27 This poses a danger not only by discrediting our trade but also by completely dishonoring the great goddess Artemis. The whole province of Asia—indeed, the entire civilized world—worships her, but her splendor will soon be extinguished.” 28 Once they heard this, they were beside themselves with anger and began to shout, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

Demetrius and his guild had a number of grievances against Paul and the Way followers. Paul’s work was undermining their business model. He was a threat to their way of life. Paul was a foreigner and an outsider who was twisting the minds of the true Ephesians. He was a threat not just to their economics, but he was offending the Goddess they had all worked so hard to appease. Paul was a threat to the existence of the whole city, a threat they felt like they had to get it rid of.

But how? They called a meeting.

Well it was more like a mob whipped into a fervor as they showed their unwavering devotion to their Goddess:

29 The city was thrown into turmoil. They rushed as one into the theater. They seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from the province of Macedonia. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the assembly, but the disciples wouldn’t allow him. 31 Even some officials of the province of Asia, who were Paul’s friends, sent word to him, urging him not to risk going into the theater. 

Over the two years Paul had collected many donations for his evangelical cause. He had the funds and revenue stream to make it in the city, even sending the surplus funds to others around the area. But one person’s charity is another person’s hand out. One person’s expression of generosity is another person’s enabling behavior. Paul’s companions urged him not to go to the mob because they may seek to recoup the money they feel Paul “took” from them and their businesses. 

32 Meanwhile, the assembly was in a state of confusion. Some shouted one thing, others shouted something else, and most of the crowd didn’t know why they had gathered. 33 The Jews sent Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd directed their words toward him. He gestured that he wanted to offer a defense before the assembly, 34 but when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” This continued for about two hours.

This is the power of the mob, it blinds and binds. 

The mob becomes blind to the ways their actions and thinking are harmful. They are blind to the limitations of their thinking. The mob is blind to the holes in their thoughts and perceptions. Mobs overlook the internal hypocrisy and contradictions, and ironically, are able to see the hypocrisy and contradictions in others. 

Looking around these individuals sees there are others who have similar grievances and they grow closer together. The individuals move as one, speak as one. The individual gives way to the group and they are bound together. Once bound together critiques on the group are understood as personal attacks. When a dissenting voice attempts to speak, they are drown out. When someone tries to say something that is not the party line, slurs and insults ensue. The mob will not tolerate anyone speaking anything counterfactual. The mob is bound to one another and to their sense of the world.

The crowd distills contradiction to opposition.

The mob grows restless. Surely if something does not happen then they will make something happen. The group is hot, tired and fired up. Some have hot heads and red faces while trying to outshout the marginal voices around them. There grows within the crowd a sense that anyone could be a mole, an impostor, an unbeliever. A fear to say the wrong thing or to say the right thing in a way that moves through the crowd. In an effort to ensure keep the group pure, chants break out. The eyes fall upon those who do not say the words enthusiastically so the shouts become louder and louder as people proclaim their allegiance to Artemis - which makes followers of the Way very uneasy.

They remembered what happened not very long ago in the theater of Ephesus. The city was in the middle of a plague, many died. Some thought the problem was that there were too many people in the city that did not belong. Being a port city it was full of languages and colors. There were competing ideologies and theologies. Some of the leaders thought that the plague was the result of all these differences and that Artemis was getting angry at so many unfaithful citizens. 

There was tension in the city and along came a pagan miracle worker named Apollonius. Apollonius gathered a mob into the theater and told them that the cure to the plague was for everyone to pick up a stone and kill a lonely blind beggar. And they did. 

And so when the mob was once more in the theater, whipped into a frenzy because of another possible economic calamity, echoes of Apollonius’ cure were in their ears. In fact many had brought their own stones. Perhaps more tragically, followers of the Way had stones too. 

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The story of the silversmiths or the story of Apollonius are not limited to the past. As William Faulkner said, “The past is never dead. It's not even past.” The theater we stand in, the moment of our time, the frenzy and tension of our day - what are we going to do with the stones we carry?

Listening to Outrage - Are We Doing it Wrong?

Sometimes we share with others our sense of anger and outrage on matters that we are not directly related to. This practice is often thought of as a way to be prophetic and/or bring about change. It also has a "martyring" effect in that it could bring harm to the one expressing outrage (such as one expressing outrage over Presidents Trump or Obama may feel like they are "taking one for the team"). However, there is some evidence to suggest this action is self-serving. Here is the opening lines from the study:

When people publicly rage about perceived injustices that don't affect them personally, we tend to assume this expression is rooted in altruism—a "disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others." But new research suggests that professing such third-party concern—what social scientists refer to as "moral outrage"—is often a function of self-interest, wielded to assuage feelings of personal culpability for societal harms or reinforce (to the self and others) one's own status as a Very Good Person. (http://reason.com/blog/2017/03/01/moral-outrage-is-self-serving) 

The article goes on to talk about this in depth, but the part I want to highlight is how to listen to outrage.

Often we listen to outrage of others with a desire to let the other person know we understand. One way we do this is by taking on some of their outrage. This "taking on" aspect of emotions of another person is over-functioning and inserting yourself into the center of the story of another. When someone inserts themselves into the center of my outrage, then I am quick to let that person carry my outrage for me. Meaning, that I will outsource my outrage to anyone who will be willing to carry it for me so that I don't have to deal with it. 

Listening to the outrage of another means that you are willing to let them own their emotions and give them the space to do the work that is needed to learn from the emotions. If we take the work that is theirs to do, then we are stunting another in their maturation.

When we listen to outrage, it is important to remember that the emotions of the one outraged are their own feelings and you don't have to own them. When we take on the rage of another then we cannot deal with our own emotional lives - thus stunting our own maturation. 

Winning the hearts and minds of the enemy

I was at lunch the other day and came across this t-shirt on a man. I asked if it would be okay if I took a picture of the back of the shirt.

He asked if I was going to "use it in an NAACP lawsuit" against him. 

I said, "No, but I am a pastor at a local United Methodist church."

He nodded and said, "In that case, go ahead."  

The interesting thing in this exchange is this man thought the shirt was more challenging to the message of the NAACP than that of the Prince of Peace who said to love your enemy.

I have studied the "Just war" theories in the Christian tradition and found them logical but difficult to square with the teachings of Christ. I understand that there are other faithful Christ followers who think differently. While I work to try to better understand the position of the use of violence, I struggle with the reality that it is impossible to win the hearts and minds of our enemies if the parties are dead.

My kid punched a kid, so I punched him to teach him a lesson

I have brown eyes but my wife has blue eyes. I have brown hair but Estee has blonde. I have fine hair but Estee has full hair. I have oily skin but Estee is has normal skin. When you look at our boys you can see each of their parents in their body. 

One has blue eyes, blonde hair, oily skin and full hair. The other has blue eyes, brown hair, normal skin and fine hair. There is a residue of each of their parents in their lives. 

This is how DNA works.

While we know this about biology, this is also true about psychology. I was raised in a home with a mother who is a "hugger" and a father who highly values commitment. I am a mix of these two things. There are times I catch myself acting exactly like like my mother or father. The circumstances in my past are present in the present. 

When we create something, be it a child, artwork or even a society, there is a residue of the creator(s) in the created. When a child grows up in an environment that deals with anger by being abusive toward women, chances are that child will not know how to deal with anger other than to abuse women. The residue of the ones who help create that child will be present in that child throughout life. 

It is important to remember when we create solutions to problems, even problems of violence, we need to be very aware of the ways we create the solution. The things that go into that solution will be present in that solution. If we use chocolate chips in a batter and expect that after all the ingredients go into the oven that they chocolate will some how be absent in the cookie, we are fools. If we use violence to solve a problem and expect violence to some how be absent in the future, we are fools. 

I do not know the way forward in dealing with violence. I do know that if we use violence then we will only create solutions that in turn will have the seeds of violence within it. If we want to eradicate violence, let us begin with eradicating violence in the solutions we create.