Truth is...

The man who spoke these words was Demetrius, a silversmith whose shrine-making business for the goddess Artemis (or Diana, in Latin) kept many craftsmen in ancient Ephesus employed. Paul’s preaching was disrupting their commerce, and Demetrius wasn’t happy about it.

So he gathered the silversmiths and every craftsperson connected to their line of work into the local amphitheater — the ruins of which still stand today. There, he held a rally and whipped the crowd into a chaotic frenzy against “this man Paul.”

It's interesting to note how he starts with their wallets, warning that Paul’s message is wrecking their livelihood. Only afterward does he tack on a religious concern: that “the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin — the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”

The result was an hours-long, life-threatening riot.

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Truth is...people have been using religion for personal gain for a very long time. That doesn’t make faith the problem, but it does mean we should stay alert whenever someone tries to blend profit and piety.

      

It starts innocently enough.

We are all encouraged to have a positive self-image, right? I mean, you can't "love your neighbor as you love yourself" if you don't first love yourself.

Then we want to make sure other people recognize how lovable we are, prompting them to appreciate our personal greatness. (A synonym for prompting is provoking.)

And what happens as we encounter people who have no need to compare or contrast themselves to others to feel good about themselves? We wish we could be like them, and that's called envy.

Most people quote the tenth commandment as "Thou shalt not covet." What most people don't do is translate that churchy word covet into something that normal people understand. You know ... something like envy.

Don't misunderstand. We have good reason to carry around a positive self-image. After all, Jesus thinks we're to die for! But before we get over-impressed with ourselves, let's remember the reason he died. And those sins of yours that put Jesus on the cross are "just as bad" as mine. And mine are just as bad as my neighbor's. 

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Truth is...The ground at the foot of the cross is perfectly level.

      

You see it every time political power changes hands: a new leader is suddenly surrounded by eager voices, each insisting they’re the truest supporter, each angling for a favor, a position, or a slice of the budget.

It makes total sense ... if your hopes for personal advancement, success, and security are pinned to a politician.

But if you long for real truth and justice, it would be good to heed the words of Charles Colson:

Where is the hope? I meet millions who tell me that they feel demoralized by the decay around us. Where is the hope? The hope that each of us has is not in who governs us or what laws are passed or what great things we do as a nation. Our hope is in the power of God working through the hearts of people. And that’s where our hope is in this country. That’s where our hope is in life.

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Truth is...Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.  -  Psalm 20:7 (NIV)

      

To provide some context, Luke tells us the twelve disciples were arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. I can imagine Peter pointed out his natural leadership abilities and how he helped run the family's fishing business. James and John probably thundered out their own reasoning why they should be respected just a bit more than the others.

Then Jesus butts in with the bombshell that a true leader is a servant to the ones he leads. And he backs it up by pointing out that's what he's been doing all along.

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Truth is...I am reminded of the following illustration demonstrating the difference between a boss and a leader.