Acts 18:24-19:22 | You Don't Need to Know It Allಮಾದರಿ

Apollos was smart; Apollos was successful. And just like it can be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, it can be hard for a smart man to do so too. Self-sufficiency based on natural ability and personal achievement has a way of breeding an arrogance that has little need for a savior and little room for humility and repentance before the living God.

Which makes the Apollos story more remarkable. Acts tells us that when Priscilla and Aquila heard him (you can meet them in the previous plan), they invited him into their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately (Acts 18:26). Apollos, it seems, was responsive. He humbled himself. He was willing to learn more – even change his perspective, which requires an openness to change, which is predicated on an attitude of not thinking you know everything.

Witnessing has a way of humbling you.

A man like this who will humble himself before the Lord and be instructed more fully is a rare and precious thing. So the brothers and sisters encouraged him to continue spreading the good news in Achaia, and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him, where he was a powerful witness in the synagogues and a great help to those who believed (Acts 18:27-28).

But what about the disciples he taught back in Ephesus?

They were still there. Still unaware of a new baptism and unaware of the Holy Spirit. Whether or not this was because of Apollos is hard to pin down. The confusion over baptism seems to be, but their ignorance of the Holy Spirit? Any church worker can lament that no matter how much you teach on something, some people will forget it, miss it, or distort it. In any case, this one group of disciples in Ephesus just didn’t know.

Paul circles in, picks up where Apollos left off, and teaches them about a new baptism into Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Luke writes that “on hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all” (Acts 19:5-7, NIV). It’s almost as if Luke is telling us there was another mini-Pentecost. And his nod to there being about twelve men in all should signal their inclusion into the body of disciples.

Acts 19 is about batting clean-up. Priscilla and Aquila helping Apollos sort through some areas where he was missing it. Paul helping some Ephesian disciples do the same. Apollos humbled himself. And God used him. Like Apollos, the disciples he taught did the same. And God did a mighty work among them too.

You don’t need to know it all to be a witness. You don’t need to know it all to be a disciple. You certainly don’t know all there is to know about the Way of Jesus. You may even explain things wrongly. At times it may cause others to miss key components of the Christian faith. Don’t stop learning, but don’t let that stop you from witnessing. Just share why Jesus is important to you. And maybe a Bible passage too. Share what he’s done for you, and why he’s your savior and Lord.

God is capable of saving people who don’t know it all through people who don’t know it all. And like he did with Paul, God is capable of sending others to bat clean-up too.