The Disruption of Transformation

 

By:  Dale Weckbacher

 

Text:  Acts 19:21-41

 

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world,^[a] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.^[b]

(ESV)

 

Change brings disruption in our lives, something familiar to us as we have gone through the events of 2020 and now 2021.  Transformation also brings disruption to our lives but there is a difference between the two.  Change in our lives is inevitable and something constantly occurring while transformation is change with the purpose of improvement and the type of change spoken of in Romans 12:2. For example, during the shutdowns of 2020, people began working from home with their children also attending class online at home.  While the initial thought was that this would bring convenience and time flexibility to lives as there was no longer the need to commute to work or school, people soon discovered the disruption of having to balance being an educator and employee at the same time.  However, the changes the Lord wants to bring into our lives are transformative and come to transform us from one conformed to the world and sin to one whose life brings glory to God. 

 

Sadly, riots are becoming a common topic in the news due to the frequency with which they occur in our society.  While the thought of people willingly destroying the property of others and endangering other’s lives to support a political agenda is abhorrent to law-abiding citizens, riots are nothing new and something the early church had to deal with.  The text of Acts 19:21-41 records a riot ensuing in Ephesus due to the spreading of the Gospel disrupting the profits of Demetrius who was a silversmith engaged in the business of making silver shrines for Artemis (Acts 19:23-24).  This is not the first time the transformative message of the Gospel brought disruption to the profits of someone’s business for it also disrupted the profits made from slaveowners of a slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination (Acts 16:16-24).  The difference in this disruption is it was not the result of one man casting out a demon from someone (Acts 16:16-18), resulting in Paul and Silas ending up in jail but the work of many spreading the Gospel from the Church in Ephesus, lowering the demand for silver shrines of Artemis (Acts 19:25-26).  Therefore, the reaction in this instance is not the throwing of two men in jail believing that would end the movement but the creation of a riot and confusion attempting to silence those spreading the message of the Gospel. 

 

The spreading of the Gospel message is bringing transformation to the lives of people in Ephesus and throughout Asia as they lose conformity to the world and the worship of gods like Artemis.  Demetrius and his craftsmen had the opportunity to experience the transformative change of the Gospel in their lives but have chosen to remain conformed to the world, resisting the transformative change occurring around them by trying to silence it (Acts 19:28-34).  However, the town clerk disrupts their plans as he determines those from the Church in Ephesus are neither sacrilegious of blasphemers (Acts 19:37).  He then invites Demetrius and his craftsmen to take their case to court, settling it with civility and not through riotous activity (Acts 19:39-41). 

 

The Gospel message is transformative and therefore disruptive to one’s secular life.  In this text, it is disruptive of the money-making activities of Demetrius and craftsmen in Ephesus who profit from crafting silver shrines of Artemis (Acts 19:24).  These men become enraged and fill the city with confusion, moving into the theater (Acts 19:29).  This is not the first time the spreading of the Gospel has led to the disruption of profit for they imprisoned Paul and Silas for casting a spirit of divination from a slave girl who brought profit to her owners (Acts 16:16-24).  To be transformative in one’s life, the gospel will also be disruptive as it transforms one from conformity to the world to a transformed life in Christ.       

 

While one’s salvation is a work of the grace of God and not because of one’s work (Ephesians 2:8), the process of sanctification is ongoing, occurring as one loses conformity to the world through transformation by God’s Word and the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:1-2).  We must understand that this transformative process will come with disruptions in our life as God reveals areas of conformity to the world in our lives that must have transformation.  Demetrius and the craftsmen in Ephesus had a greater interest in maintaining their conformity to the world by protecting their economic interests through the making of silver shrines to Artemis.  Their short-sightedness led to their abandonment of the eternal benefits of a life surrendered to Christ in the interest of profit. 

 

I ask everyone reading this to search their hearts and ask God to reveal any conformity to the world they are hanging on to, surrendering it to God and not resisting like Demetrius.  May God bless everyone reading this post.