Becoming a More Effective Proclaimer

“²⁴Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. ²⁵He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. ²⁷And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, ²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus” (Acts 18:24-28).

We all know Paul. He has been studied the most and there is more written about him than any other NT writer with good reason. He was, after all, the “Apostle to the Gentiles”. But he was not the only remarkable Christian of his time. Today we will look at Apollos, a contemporary of Paul and a man that was highly capable when it came to preaching God’s Word. The Bible tells us he was eloquent and competent, but then we read in v.26 that something was missing. While he had been instructed in the way of the Lord, his teaching of Jesus was inadequate. Specifically, he was not preaching the Gospel, did not understand the death and resurrection of Jesus, and therefore only preached John’s baptism.

There are many preachers and teachers like Apollos in the world today. They are eloquent speakers, educated in the scriptures (to a degree), and boldly confident of what they are teaching about the Bible. But, like Apollos, enthusiasm and a fairly good knowledge of the Bible will not suffice. In the case of Paul’s contemporary, it took two people sent from God to further educate him in the way of Jesus. I can imagine his surprise when Aquila and Priscilla took him one side and explained the “rest of the story” to him. Two things are worth noting about our story today.

Firstly, the two co-founders of the Corinthian church did not embarrass Apollos. They did not ambush him in front of everyone and admonish him for not speaking the entire truth. They saw his enthusiasm but also noticed his shortcomings, and therefore gently pulled him aside to address them. Many people, especially in the present climate, would have called him out and shamed him, but not Aquilla and Priscilla. They had the decency and respect to take him aside and teach him. And secondly, he accepted their efforts with grace. Many times, when people feel compelled to try and correct us, even if they do it respectfully, we become mad because our tiny feelings get hurt. Instead of listening and learning, we become aggressively defensive, ignoring their much-needed good intentions. When our family and friends take the time to visit with us, we should be like Apollos and be thankful, embrace their efforts and become more effective proclaimers of God’s Word.

All of us are an Apollos at one time in our spiritual walk. We have limited knowledge about the scriptures because we are new converts, but we are eager to spread the Good News. We “boldly” proclaim things that seem logical and even doctrinally sound to us, but which are not in the least so. The obvious danger of over-enthusiasm with too few facts supporting it is inadvertently leading a seeking soul astray by feeding them false information. But, if we are lucky, we will have a Aquilla and Priscilla in our lives who will be concerned enough to take the time to gently steer us in the correct direction. That will allow us to learn more about our God and Savior and give us the confidence to spread the truth according to the Scriptures and not opinions according to man. Only then can we powerfully refute those who oppose the Gospel of Christ.

There is no doubt that we should spread the Gospel to those who are still in the darkness of sin. Matt. 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” But, since souls depend on us accurately teaching the Word, we should take all care to ensure we are doing so soundly. As Paul said to his understudy, Titus, “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).