Acts 18
So in Bible class on Wednesday nights, we have been studying the book of Acts for a while now. Last night, we focused on Acts 18:18 - 19:7. This passage really struck me because I think a lot of people in the church today take what they hear as the truth, in regards to things others might do, and if they have a problem with those things, they spread the gossip instead of going to the wrongdoers and finding out what really happened. I myself am guilty as charged as I have done this many times. Well, here we have one of the first instances of how things should be handled in the church. So let's look at the passage.
Apollos was a very wise man. He came from Alexandria, where the largest collection of books was in the world at that time. He was well versed in scripture and was spreading the news brought to him by John the Baptist. He preached repentance instead of sacrifices, baptism, and belief in one greater that was to come. He arrived in Ephesus and began preaching in the synagogues. This is when Priscilla and Aquila, two of Paul's friends that knew of Jesus, first heard him. So what did they do when they heard Apollos preaching the truth, but a truth that had not been updated? Did they stand up in the middle of the synagogue and tell him he needed to be updated? Did they pull him over after he was done speaking and tell him before those in the synagogue that he needed more information? NO. They invited him into their house where they could discuss things in private. And what about Apollos? Here was a very intelligent man, who was approached by a couple, who were tentmakers. But Apollos went with them and listened to what they had to say. He didn't rebuke these two tentmakers and tell them they were wrong. No, he sat down with them, ate, and together they discussed Jesus.
And this is where I really think we struggle today as a church. When Apollos heard this, what did he do? Did he say they were crazy? Did he jump on the bandwagon right away? No. He packed up and traveled to Achaia, and although it doesn't say this in Acts 18, I believe it was in search of Paul. In my opinion, he wanted to hear about Jesus from Paul. Paul was the one sharing the news around the world and Apollos wanted to hear more. As an intelligent man, Apollos wanted to seek out the truth from someone who knew it. So why don't we do this more often? Why do we often spread rumors throughout the church that often aren't true or a worse skew of the truth? Can we not strive to be more like Apollos, and go and search out the truth from the source?
Apollos was a very wise man. He came from Alexandria, where the largest collection of books was in the world at that time. He was well versed in scripture and was spreading the news brought to him by John the Baptist. He preached repentance instead of sacrifices, baptism, and belief in one greater that was to come. He arrived in Ephesus and began preaching in the synagogues. This is when Priscilla and Aquila, two of Paul's friends that knew of Jesus, first heard him. So what did they do when they heard Apollos preaching the truth, but a truth that had not been updated? Did they stand up in the middle of the synagogue and tell him he needed to be updated? Did they pull him over after he was done speaking and tell him before those in the synagogue that he needed more information? NO. They invited him into their house where they could discuss things in private. And what about Apollos? Here was a very intelligent man, who was approached by a couple, who were tentmakers. But Apollos went with them and listened to what they had to say. He didn't rebuke these two tentmakers and tell them they were wrong. No, he sat down with them, ate, and together they discussed Jesus.
And this is where I really think we struggle today as a church. When Apollos heard this, what did he do? Did he say they were crazy? Did he jump on the bandwagon right away? No. He packed up and traveled to Achaia, and although it doesn't say this in Acts 18, I believe it was in search of Paul. In my opinion, he wanted to hear about Jesus from Paul. Paul was the one sharing the news around the world and Apollos wanted to hear more. As an intelligent man, Apollos wanted to seek out the truth from someone who knew it. So why don't we do this more often? Why do we often spread rumors throughout the church that often aren't true or a worse skew of the truth? Can we not strive to be more like Apollos, and go and search out the truth from the source?
posted by Big Bentley at 9:14 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home