Money And Sexual Deviance

About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the Way. It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy. He called them together, along with others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as follows: “Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business. But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province! Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world—will be robbed of her great prestige!” [Acts 19.23-27] 

The message of faith in Jesus Christ alone resulted in trouble for believers in Ephesus. So impactful was the message of Jesus upon these believers that it affected how they spent their money. And that is where Demetrius and his associates became part of Paul's story in Acts 19.

The endangered wealth Demetrius mentioned above was the money spent by people on idols. As Ephesian believers trusted in Christ alone, they no longer felt the need to pay for whatever benefit their idols had previously provided. Trusting Christ alone meant more to the Ephesian believers than just going to church on Sunday. Unfortunately, for all those in the industry of idolatry, this meant a downturn in their economy. And, that is when the trouble began...

It requires no stretch of the imagination to understand how trusting in Christ alone could affect the idol industry of the 21st century. If believers in Jesus genuinely followed Christ alone, trusting Him alone for all the well-documented Biblical promises of provision, protection, health and conveniences, there would be a worldwide negative effect on the industries of debt, insurance, medicine and technology.

The question begs to be pondered, "Had Demetris sat in Paul's meetings initially and perhaps felt the inclination to follow Christ?" After all, religion had been good for Demetrius up to this point. Regardless, the message of trusting Christ alone eventually reached Demetrius affecting him where most most folks would agree it matters most, in his pocketbook.

In today's One Year Chronological Bible reading, we find another facet of idolatry that must not be ignored. Because the sin that results from this idolatry so distracts most people, the idolatry that caused it is often overlooked. However, it is established Biblical fact.

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. [Romans 1.18-23]

Do not be fooled that idols of the 21st century must look like idols of the 1st century!  Just as man has refined his presence on earth, so man-made idols have kept in step. This point is argued effectively elsewhere, but suffice it for the purpose of this article to observe not the construct of the idols, but the result of their existence.

As Paul pointed out in Romans 1.23, the cause was (and is) idolatry and the glaringly obvious effect was (and is) gross sexual immorality.

So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. [Romans 1.24-32]

The implications of this two-fold revelation are far-reaching. Idolatry is just as easily identifiable following money and sex today as it was in Paul's day. 

To be sure, genuinely following Christ in the 21st century will be met with the same ire as it was in the 1st century. Genuine faith in Christ alone in the 21st century will upset every money-making idol whose existence is inescapably confirmed by widespread sexual deviance just as it did in the 1st century. 

Trouble for the declarer is the only outcome of promoting faith in Christ alone.

Father, may Your Word take its rightful place in the lives of believers. May believers the world over recognize idolatry for what it is and what it does. May we have a keen eye for the implications of money and sexual deviance. So be it.