Life at Work
“When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately” (Acts 18:26).
We already knew that Priscilla and Aquila were hospitable – they housed Paul for nearly two years. I wonder if their exposure to his evangelistic spirit and teaching ability enabled them to help out Apollos. They were certainly effective, and the succeeding verses reveal why that was so important – but first things first.
John Maxwell noted about teams, “A team is many voices with a single heart.” The fact that this couple works together stands out to me. Look at the verses that mention either Priscilla or Aquila.
“There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them…,” (Acts 18:2)
“Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews” (Acts 18:18-19)
“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” (Acts 18:26).
“Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (Romans 16:3)
“The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house” (1 Corinthians 16:19).
“Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus” (2 Timothy 4:19)
They were Christians as a team. They were teachers as a team. They suffered as a team. They housed individuals and churches as a time. They even sent and received greetings as a team. They succeeded as team.
Why? Because though they were individuals, they had one heart; a heart for God. That’s Life at Work.
(Maxwell Quote from: The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player.)
2 comments:
It doesn't seem that Priscilla was restricted in any way from teaching Apollos; that she and Aquila taught him in their home together. And they had the grace to teach him privately in their home, not publicly where the church met in the synagogue - so that his effectiveness as a minister was not diminished as his doctrine was updated.
That's teamwork!
True, Keith. My posts here usually reflect my recent sermons. This Sunday I enumerated a number of lessons that we can learn from Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos: (1) we can learn how to respond when we realize we've been wrong; (2) we can learn how to approach in love those who have something we can help them learn; (3) we can learn some things about a woman's role in kingdom work; (4) we can learn that we have greater callings than making tents; and (5) we can learn how important it is to be a strong link in the chain of ministry to others.
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