Acts 18:26, 28 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. 28 For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.
There are many capable people in the world who can lead effectively. Leaders don’t have to be perfect, just good at leading. I guess that is why I have been so disappointed with the quality of leadership that we have in this country. So many leaders are just in it for themselves.
Or that is the way it seems from my perspective. There are so few servants.
But that isn’t what we read in the New Testament book of Acts from where our text comes. We have been following the live and ministry of Paul, a radically transformed person. The Gospel has transformed his life and he is ready to tell everyone about it.
On this leg of his journey, he is joined by two others, Priscilla and Aquila. They must be very capable messengers, because Paul leaves them to carry on the work in the city of Ephesus. And that is what we find them doing in our text.
There is a visitor to the city named Apollos, a man who had studied the Scriptures and was already telling people about Jesus. But he was missing “the rest of the story.” He got as far as the repentance message that John the Baptist had preached, but didn’t know the rest.
So Priscilla and Aquila pull him aside and fill in the missing details about Jesus death and resurrection and about the coming of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t degrade him because he didn’t have the full message. Instead, they filled in the details, got him trained in the few deficits that he had, and then let him lead.
And lead he did! He is sent off to another city, Achaia. As he arrives and begins his ministry, he finds some people that need some help and he provides that help. Because of his thorough knowledge of the Scriptures he is able to do what these other believers were not able to do due to their lack of knowledge. He was able to persuade!
It is important to realize that we can’t do everything. We are not equipped nor trained nor gifted to do everything well. We each have some things, perhaps one thing, that we do well. So we should be happy when someone comes along to fill in our gaps. This kind of assistance is vital to the progress of the Gospel.
But this takes humility, something in very short supply these days. We have to be willing to share the spotlight, something that can be very difficult for some people. These early believers seem to have had little problem allowing others to take the lead. In fact, they rejoiced when the Gospel bore fruit no matter who the person was leading the effort.
What mattered to them was that Jesus was proclaimed! And that should be our priority as well. We should rejoice when Jesus is proclaimed in all His fullness. But do we?
Have we allowed petty rivalries to invade our spirit and prevent us from sharing what we have with whomever needs it? Or have we become a ‘me and mine’ group? Are we giving in our attitude, thinking that there isn’t enough for everyone, or do we see the abundance of the Gospel and rejoice that there are more faucets from which the abundant waters can flow?
The Arnold Journey 