A GOOD MOVE

AND ANOTHER GOOD MOVE

Acts 18-19

In the New Testament, people come out of the woodwork. We're reading along about the important people we've heard of all our lives, and suddenly people pop up we never – or very seldom – heard of before. These pop-ups remind us that the Bible only tells part of the story of the church. Remember 3,000 people responded on the day of Pentecost. Each one of them would have a fascinating follow up story. Indeed, tracing the Christian lives of all 120 people in the upper room could triple the size of the NT at least. '

Luke introduces us to two of these lesser known people as Paul entered Corinth after Athens. Corinth was a port city and “not for every man,” as said by an ancient writer. Probably Paul knew no one when he landed there the first time, but soon met Aquila, a Jew, and his wife Priscilla. They shared Paul's craft of leather-working or tent-making, so they worked together. Turned out they were also Jews who had been run out of Rome by an emperor's persecution. They apparently became Christians and helped Paul, Silas, and Timothy build a church there.

After a year and a half, Paul left Corinth, sailing briefly to Ephesus where he left Priscilla and Aquila. He then sailed “home” to Caesarea, then down to Antioch where he spent “some time.”

Meanwhile, back in Ephesus, a dude go by name of Appolos (no, not the sun god – that's AppollO). Anyway, he was smart, educated, and knew all about Christianity, even thought he was one. However, he did not have a full grasp of the gospel, so A &P (I hear they're going bankrupt lately) invite him to their house, where they laid out the complete story and doctrine. He believed, was baptized, and received their encouragement to keep preaching about Jesus. They even sent a letter of endorsement ahead of him to Achaia. He went there to continue preaching with the encouragement of the whole church.

There are some lessons in here. One is don't believe everything you hear. Compare it to what you already know. Then if you're pretty confident you know what you're talking about it, share information with others. P&A told Appolus “that ain't the way we heard it,” and went on to set him straight. In so doing, they fueled a powerful testimony and missionary of the faith.

Another lesson here is that this was a family project. Both the couple were involved, as was the use of their house. How has your family been involved together in serving Christ?

The female of the species was heavily involved. Yes, this was a patriarchal society, but everywhere we turn we find women involved in the early church. In this case, Prissy is even listed first! Does that mean she was the dominant one? Scholars think it may be significant when Luke switches the order of Barnabas and Paul early in their first missionary journey. They suggest Paul's taking leadership was part of the reason Mark turned back. Does P coming before A mean the same here? At any rate she was involved as were many other women.