“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”  In this simple chant, the very heart of today’s story, we find a great insight into our own idolatry as a nation.  From hyper-nationalism to Capitalism to love of money to the “cult of celebrity” and beyond, we as a culture live lives that put ideas, people, and most often ourselves above God.

The Ephesians, led by Demetrius, do not object to a new religion, philosophy, or worldview.  As always, their objection was that this new belief was impinging on their business.  Money is by far the greatest idol we fight, both personally and religiously.  Unlike in Thessalonica where the mob was made up of ruffians, here Demetrius makes a mob of the businessmen of Ephesus.  And these start up the chant, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

Artemis, better known to us as Diana, Huntress and the protector of women, was the patron of Ephesus.  And her temple was so wondrous that it became one of the 7 Wonders of the World.  No wonder the statue/idol/”image of Artemis” business was thriving.  But Paul and The Way (their name for Christianity) were so compelling that people were turning away from the worship of Artemis, and that was hurting their idol business.  So they rioted against Christianity.

Today, this is not much of a worry for the church, and that is deeply shameful to us.  This society need not fear our stealing customers away from them because we have instead joined them in their idol business.  We teach that the tenets of capitalism, of American-ism, are God’s will and we draw people not away from the idolatry but right into it.  Try telling the average church-goer that God wants them to give up their money, their comfort, their authority, and you’ll see a riot all right.  I have never even referenced the story of the rich young ruler without someone immediately telling me that God wanted him to BE WILLING to give up his belongings, not to actually do it.

We have to watch carefully that we don’t fall into the very idolatry God calls us to fight against.  Otherwise, we may find ourselves taking up the chant, “Great is the Captialism of America!”

Aquila and Priscilla are a fascinating study.  Minor players in Paul’s history, they are still amazing missionaries, church planters, and leaders in their own rights.  Born and raised in Pontus, he moved to Italy, to Rome where he either brought or met his wife Priscilla.  They were believers in Jesus, and were kicked out of Rome when Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome in AD19.  This was the second expulsion of the Jews from Rome, both times because the Jews were proselytizing too publicly.

Expelled from their home in Rome, they move to Corinth where they set up both shop (as tentmakers) and ministry.  This sets the stage for Paul’s Corinthian ministry, which was co-lead by both Aquila and Priscilla.  Years later, they have grown so attached to Paul that they leave with him and sail to Ephasus.  There, they begin a ministry that sees Paul leave this second missionary journey to return to Jerusalem, then return as the first stop of his third and final journey.  Eventually, this center of Christianity was overseen by Timothy, and eventually John the Apostle and was included in his letter we know of as “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”.

Priscilla still stands as an argument for women in ministry, though many have argued from silence that she must have been the second in command, working under Aquila, since Paul didn’t allow women to lead.  But since she is not the only woman Paul places in leadership, and there is no textual evidence of her inferiority, she stands as a woman leader placed in leadership by Paul himself.

Regardless of her gender or marital status, Priscilla and her husband Aquila certainly led interesting, faithful, and important lives of Christian leadership, lives to which we can all aspire.