Apollos' Telling Reaction to Truth

Acts 18:24-28

²⁴ Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. ²⁵ He had been taught the way of the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy. However, he knew only about John’s baptism. ²⁶ When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately.

²⁷ Apollos had been thinking about going to Achaia, and the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him to go. They wrote to the believers in Achaia, asking them to welcome him. When he arrived there, he proved to be of great benefit to those who, by God’s grace, had believed. ²⁸ He refuted the Jews with powerful arguments in public debate. Using the Scriptures, he explained to them that Jesus was the Messiah.

Apollos catches my attention for several reasons. First, he was a scholar, an orator, and a debater. When he began preaching, he lacked "the rest of the story" in that he did not know of Christ as the Messiah. Priscilla & Aquila approached Apollos to "fill him in," and his response is quite telling. I love what Apollos DID NOT do:

• Apollos DID NOT reject the new message or the messengers;
  
• he DID NOT express anger or jealousy over another person's knowledge;
  
• he DID NOT feel criticized; and
  
• he DID NOT feel embarrassed.
  

Apollos listened and responded. This is an example of John 8: 31-22 (NLT):

³¹ Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. ³² And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Apollos recognized the Truth, accepted the Truth, and the Truth freed him to spread the "new and improved" message with even more passion! Often a person's reaction to instruction is a open door to recognizing whether or not they are teachable, open-minded, and honestly seeking Truth. If a person is not teachable, open-minded, and honestly seeking Truth, then beware of their ability to discern God's message in contemporary terms.

In I Corinthians, we read about Apollos' charismatic leadership. The human race really likes charismatic leaders! The danger with this type of leadership, however, is that followers interchange the message and the man; followers begin to worship the man. Apollos, or any other human, should not be lifted above God's message.

In all areas of thought, we must become lifelong learners and critical thinkers in order to be teachable, open-minded, and Truth seekers. Then, we will experience the freedom God promised through His Truth.

"There is no end of opinions ready to be expressed.
Studying them can go on forever and become very exhausting."
Ecclesiastes 12:12 (NLT)