Scripture
28At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29Soon the whole city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia. 30Paul wanted to go in, too, but the believers wouldn’t let him. 31Some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering the amphitheater. 32Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there. Acts 19:28-32
Observation
What was the rioting all about? Historically, the temple of Artemis or Diana was one of the 7th wonders of the Ancient world, but the anger was less about worship and more about he almighty dollar. “The Temple of Artemis was also a major treasury and bank of the ancient world, where merchants, kings, and even cities made deposits, and where their money could be kept safe under the protection of deity.” (Longenecker) All of the religious paraphernalia of the sex-goddess brought in money from all over the world, but as salvations in Jesus were rising under the ministry of Paul profits were falling and no one cared about “The Way” until it started affecting their bottom line. The mob mentality was in full effect as the crowd shouted for two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” Luke points out that “most of them didn’t even know why they were there.”
Application
Welcome to the Age of Rage. We are all very loud and angry, protesting and picketing and we’re not sure why. Yesterday, the country wasn’t shouting for hours about the goddess Diana, but make no mistake, the Super Bowl is all about the money and there was a lot of shouting going on. The average ticket is $11,000, 65,000 people in the stands (including multiple shots of celebrity Taylor Swift, girlfriend of The Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce) and over 110 million Americans viewing on their various devices. Regardless of who you were cheering for we all saw the same moment now immortalized in millions of memes. Kelce’s relationship with Swift had dominated much of the build-up to Super Bowl LVIII but what happened after the first 15 minutes of the game was not according to the cultural script. The whole country watched Kelce barge up to Coach Reid and shout in his face while shoving him off balance. This played out like a painful parable of our collective selves. The other players had to pull Kelce away from the aging coach and though they downplayed the unacceptable event after their Super Bowl win it left a bad taste in the mouth. No matter how it’s scrubbed and spun over the next weeks and months what we saw Kelce do is what we have seen play out over and over again in America and in our own lives. Everyone is living on the edge and the slightest challenge is causing us to blow up those we love the most. Why is this happening? Minister, author, and cultural commentator Mark Sayers said in his “Rebuilders” new year podcast that we have moved from the Age of Anxiety (2015-2022) into the Age of Rage. “The legitimacy crisis of the past years has left us with polarization, breaking up of families and friendships and a complete lack of trust for those in leadership. Now anxiety has become anger.” Kelce and Swift are just the latest examples of the fallacy of the “The platform mentality- that we are more important than anything. Real life has shown this to be false and now we are in search of something beyond them, something real. The lifestyle and opportunities we were promised have been a lie. It turns out we are not god after all.” Though Kelce is walking away with another Super Bowl ring and will probably be placing a ring on his girlfriend’s finger soon, we must see the empty promise for what it is in our own lives. Even as those who “have it all” reveal they have nothing at all if they don’t have Jesus we must acknowledge where we have fallen in with the mob mentality. Sayers says, “Instead of external management of mood we need to address the need for the church to be rebuilders. As everyone tears down the false we can rebuild with the true found in Christ. The Age of Anger invites us to address it head on and rebuild in the midst of deconstruction and to see the obstacles as opportunities.”
Prayer
“And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”(Eph 4:26). Lord, reveal the places where I have given the devil a foothold, where I have been chasing dreams birthed in the flesh rather than by Your Spirit. You are tearing down the false to reveal the true. As things heat up this year heading toward the election and more wars, show me how to respond in wisdom and love rather than reacting in anger. Forgive me for getting caught up in the collective rage of our time. Anger is just a symptom of a wound left unaddressed and unhealed. I want to be a part of the solution not the problem. I want to run after the Kingdom realties that last, not the empty promises of this age. I bring You my anger at those in leadership who have broken trust. I put my full trust In You and You alone!
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