Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?

Acts 19:13-20 (TNIV) -

13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done.19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.

20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

My thoughts -

When we call on the name of Jesus, what's our motivation? Are we caring for others? Are we seeking to spread the Kingdom? Are we seeking fame and notoriety for ourselves?

This passage intrigues me. This is in part because one of my favorite bands from the 90s was Black Eyed Sceva and also in part because I have trouble with the idea that someone could call on Jesus and have that work out as poorly for them as it does here.

But then I look past what happened to the sons of Sceva and see how the Ephesians responded to this. My guess is, if these sons of Sceva were sincere followers of Christ the community would have responded to their suffering in some way other than to burn their sorcery scrolls. My understanding of this is that they were closer to traveling magicians than anything else. They were charlatans trying to cash in on the name of Jesus. This worked rather poorly for them.

Is that us? Are we trying to gain fame, notoriety, and wealth from Jesus? Are we trying to cash in? Do we, like the "hypocrites" Jesus mentions in Matthew 6 announce our acts of righteousness and giving "in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others". It shouldn't be. We need to check ourselves constantly to make sure our intentions are pure. I know I do.

Sure, the charlatans may prosper in this life, but this is their only reward. They may also end up bruised and battered like the sons of Sceva.