The Economics of Faith
The Economics of Faith by Rev. L. John Gable
September 6, 2020
Demetrius looked to the future and didn’t like what he saw coming. He was a silversmith and a fine one at that. He sold souvenirs at the temple of the goddess Artemis in Ephesus. Not the cheap little plastic kind but miniature replicas of the temple made out of finely crafted silver.
Ephesus, located in western Turkey, is still today a remarkable archeological site, one of the finest in the world. Excavation began there in 1869 and continues today with only about ¼ of it uncovered. Originally it was a coastal city until the Meander River silted up leaving it stranded 7 miles from the coast, but during its heyday, Ephesus was a tremendous city (42 square miles) of wealth and commerce and affluence. It housed one of the largest libraries in the ancient world, the library of Celsus, with over 12,000 scrolls. But its greatest claim to fame was that it was the home of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven great wonders of the ancient world. Artemis was depicted as a multi-breasted, bountiful earth mother and it was widely believed and generally unquestioned that her statue had fallen from heaven in to place in the temple at Ephesus.
Artemis, however, was not only the goddess of fertility but also of banking and the protector of debtors which introduced a curious blend of the economics of faith. For Demetrius and his fellow artisans worship of her was a syncretism of both idolatrous religion, that is the use of idols in the practice of their religion, and of economic self-interest, but now their livelihood was being threatened by a man named Paul and other followers of the Way who taught that “gods made by human hands are no gods at all.” They were insisting that there is only one God and that He has made Himself known through one Jesus of Nazareth, called the Christ. Such teaching was not good for the idol-making business. “gods”, lower case “g”, made of silver or gold, of stone or wood or plastics or polymers or glass or steel or dollars and cents are no gods at all, then or now.
Demetrius was not opposed to competition from other artisans, but this message posed a threat to all of their vested interests. They knew that if the Gospel of Jesus was true then the worship of Artemis was not, and if that was the case then their livelihood was destined for demise. Their reasoning was simple, if the Temple of Artemis closes then there is no silver souvenir business and we are out of a job. Whether Demetrius saw his as being the godless profession it was or not we do not know, but we do know, when confronted with the teachings of Paul he didn’t try to argue Artemis against Jesus, but instead went straight to his profit motive saying, “Men, you know we get our wealth from this business.” He was faced with the harsh reality of the economic impact of faith.
The question Demetrius had to face is the same question many of us have to face today: what happens when religion, when our faith, comes not only into our hearts and our homes, but then carries over into our closest relationships and our places of business and leisure? What happens when we begin to apply Christian truths and principles and values to our lifestyles and livelihoods and the other venues of our lives? It is one thing for people to spout their religious convictions in churches and temples, but it is still another when religion starts calling in to question our involvements and our investments, how we spend our time and money, what we read, how we think, what we do. When that happens we’ve gone from “preachin’ to meddlin’” When William Wilberforce set about to overturn the industry of slavery in England in the 19th century one of his opponents in the legislature argued, “Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade public life.”
People talk about “out there” as being the real world by which they mean the practical, no-nonsense world of business and commerce, the profane and mundane, but we, as Christians, believe that “in here” is the real world, because “in here” we seek to base our actions and decisions on truths and values that are God-given, rather than on those based on self-interest, self-protection, self-promotion. We believe that the world “out there”, the kingdoms of this world, are one day passing away, but that the world we are modeling ourselves after and preparing ourselves for “in here”, the Kingdom of God, will last forever, so our task and desire is to influence and infuse this world with the values and principles of the next. So we pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
It is true, changes will invariably come, in our homes and our relationships, in the way we make decisions in the boardroom and at the ballot box, when we start asking the questions of faith and then applying them to the way we live our lives. The world will change and the cause of Christ will be furthered when our decisions in those aspects of our lives reflect our values and convictions regardless of the cost to us socially or on the bottom line.
What happens when we consider the economic impact of our faith? When we allow our faith to impact and influence the other decisions we make?
When we take our faith seriously and try to apply it to our Monday mornings as well as our Sunday mornings, we find that many of our self – justifications about what we do and why we do it will be challenged. Demetrius quickly owned up to the fact that his great concern over the growing influence of Christianity was not that the Temple of Artemis would be scorned or her image blemished, but that he would lose out on his lucrative business. We too have to own up the fact that if Christ is going to have ultimate influence over our lives it will change some of the things we do for pleasure and entertainment; the things we invest our time and money and interest in; perhaps it will change the way we do business or for some even the business we do. Such is the economic impact of faith.
When we begin to apply our faith to the living of our lives our behaviors change because our values will have changed. One of my favorite preachers Helmut Thielicke writes, “Anybody who enters in to fellowship with Jesus must undergo a transformation of values”. With a change in our value system comes a change in our decision-making process and our sense of what has meaning and worth. When Jesus touches our hearts He transforms our lives. Our behaviors change because our values have been changed and are being changed.
One note of caution, when these changes begin to take place many people will not understand what is going on with us. In the story of Demetrius as the pot of controversy got stirred the people began to shout, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians”. Was that a shout of religious devotion or economic self-interest? It is hard to decipher the two. I have been there. I can only imagine the theater in Ephesus, still in use today, the acoustics are perfect, filled with people, 25,000 strong, shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Some shouted out of anger, others out of confusion, still others out of fear of the changes that were taking place and the threat to their livelihoods and lifestyles. Luke even tells us “most of them did not even know why they had come together.” It is easy to sway a crowd by threatening their economic interests and even easier to incite them with fear of an uncertain future, and the larger the crowd the greater their vulnerability.
When we come to faith, or when we begin to take our faith seriously and undergo this transformation of values, people around us may feel threatened, saying, “Oh no, he’s got religion. She’s become a fanatic!” They may even try to get us to revert to our old ways of doing things, but that will pass once they realize the changes that are taking place within us are real, and of God.
Such a change in our values will cause us to reshape and redefine what we do and why we do it, our motives and methods, our sense of life meaning and purpose, what we are involved in and what we invest in, personally and collectively. It invariably will cause us to see where our value systems are out of alignment with the value system of the Kingdom of God, where those things in which we put our trust for our sense of security and well-being are temporal not eternal, where those things we hold of great earthly value are worthless in the economy of heaven.
As Paul said to Demetrius, so we too must be continually reminded that “gods made by human hands… “gods”, lower case “g”, made of silver or gold, of stone or wood or plastics or polymers or glass or steel or dollars and cents…are no gods at all…then or now.” As followers of Jesus we come to the realization that there are higher values which can and must guide and shape our lives and influence our decisions beside our own personal sense of well-being or the protection of our possessions or portfolios, such as a commitment to truth, integrity in our dealings with others, uncompromising fairness, justice, compassion, concern for the well-being of the other beyond our own self-interests: the poor, the outcast, the vulnerable and disenfranchised. These too are part and parcel to the economic impact of faith.
I mentioned William Wilberforce earlier for his work in ending the slave industry. He was part of the Clapham sect, a group of Christian laypersons who lived in 19th century England and marked their generation through their efforts in government, business and the arts to bring about social change and order in the name of Christ. One biographer recorded the observation of a young person who watched the men and women of the Clapham sect in their private lives. “These wise men never endeavored to mold our unformed opinions in to any particular mold. Indeed, it was needless for them to preach to us. Their lives spoke far more plainly and convincingly than any words. We saw their patience, cheerfulness, generosity, wisdom and activity daily before us, and we knew and felt that all this was only a natural expression of hearts given to the service of God.”
Friends, as our hearts are given to the service of God and we are shaped into the image of Christ let us be clear in knowing that our values and attitudes and behaviors will also be challenged and shaped and changed as well. This what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Christ.
The great desire of the Christian life is to align our values with Christ’s values, our purposes with God’s Kingdom purposes, so that when our hearts are changed our values change; when our values change our behaviors change; when our behaviors change the world around us is changed, all for the sake and cause of Christ.