With great power comes great responsibility

One of the ancient cities we visited in Asia Minor was Hierapolis, known as both a city of healing and a city of death. Built atop mineral-rich thermal springs, Hierapolis drew people from all over the Roman Empire to seek these healing waters or to send loved ones to Hades via what was believed to be a gate to the underworld. This gate is a gaping maw in the landscape through which flows a portion of the labyrinthine network of springs below the surface. As the warm waters meet the outside air, steam billows out of the entrance, giving it a surreal, almost magical appearance. To the ancient people, this was a portal to the river Styx whereby a person would travel from the living to the dead. 

​The priests of Pluto—the Roman name for the Greek god Hades, god of the underworld—built a temple atop this alleged door to his kingdom. Invoking the name of Pluto, the priests would perform elaborate rituals and sacrifices to prove that this arched stone was truly the separation between realms of the living and the dead. The thermal springs emitted toxic carbon dioxide, and the concentration of these noxious fumes in the spring entrance would kill anything within a matter of minutes. The Plutonian priests would sacrifice bulls by leading them into this cave, all the while holding their breath so as not to asphyxiate like the unlucky sacrificial animals. The people believed Pluto sent the poison gas from the underworld and granted his priests divine protection.

Ancient pagan religions relied on such magic tricks, and whether the priests believed in their own divine power or were knowing fabricators of such magic is still speculated. Either way, there was power in being the mediator between the worlds of gods and men, so it should not surprise us that some people tried to gain power through invoking the name of a new Messianic god—Jesus. In Acts 19, Luke records a “comical scene,” where seven brothers attempt an exorcism using Jesus’ name. They had heard of Paul, through whom “God did extraordinary miracles” (Acts 19:11), and documents recovered from antiquity contain “magical formulas… that invoke names of deities, including names of God used in the Old Testament and even Jesus’ name.” With such a precedent, what could possibly go wrong? A lot, according to the story. When the brothers attempted the exorcism on the man using Jesus’ name, the evil spirit confronted the brothers saying, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” before overpowering them and sending them out naked and wounded (Acts 19:15-16). There is a clear message in this story—God’s name is not to be used for purposes of self-aggrandizement. When we call on the name of God, we do so not to manipulate, not to gain power or fame, not for our own benefit, but humbly and for right reasons. 

Unlike the pagan practices whereby priests gained power for their part in the miracle and the special protections they and other believed they gained from their gods, Christianity is about allowing the self to be a conduit for God’s work, shining the light on what God is doing through us as opposed to what we are doing in the name of God. This story in Acts is a warning against using God’s miracles as the pagans used magic tricks—“as a means of controlling human experience,” but rather to bring people closer to God through relationship with the Divine. The commandment against using the Lord’s name in vain is less about the “Oh my God!” expletive and more about the misuse of God’s name to gain power or wealth, to control or coerce others through spiritual and emotional manipulation, or in any other way cause harm by twisting God into a tool for our own agenda. God’s name is powerful, and as such, we are to use it reverently and handle it with care. We are to know and understand its power and speak it accordingly. “The gospel claims this name’s reach is cosmic and total;” may we invoke God’s name and God’s miracles humbly, with the emphasis on God’s work and not our own.