Empowering The Individual For Service Series

Have you ever been in a race where you are just exhausted and want to give up? All of a sudden you hear the roar of the crowd, and it empowers you to believe that you can finish. It is empowering to know people who see God’s vision for your life.

Contrast that with what they could have thought or how we typically see people as human beings. They could have looked at Apollos and said, “He’s young. What can I learn from this young punk?” During my entire ministry, I have fought this issue of being too young. There was a person who no longer attended my church because he said that he couldn’t learn from someone younger than him. Yet, this didn’t stop Priscilla and Aquila. Rather than looking at Apollos’ age, they looked at what God wanted to say through him. Age does not necessarily produce wisdom. You can be an old fool, too, can’t you? What makes you wise is God.

From the outside, Apollos may have looked arrogant. He was preaching with passion, authority and conviction. From the human perspective, it could be interpreted as arrogance or cockiness. What’s the difference between the two? It all depends on who receives the glory. A person who is cocky and arrogant gives himself the glory and claims that it is all about his gifts and abilities. The person who has authority and conviction gives God the glory for what He has done in his life. Apollos knew that his gifts and talents came from God.

People could have claimed that Apollos was infringing upon Paul’s ministry in Corinth, but it is Paul who comes to Apollos’ defense. This became a real point of division in the church. You can read about it in I Corinthians 1 and 2. The church became divided over their pastors. One group claimed to be the church of Paul, and the other group claimed to be the church of Apollos., and another group claimed to be the church of Peter. The truth is that this is the church of Jesus Christ, and anyone who serves him is someone we need to listen to because God put him there for a reason and we can receive from him.

I’m hearing that White Clay is doing the same thing with its pastors. One group says, “I love Pastor Richard.” That’s great! Another group says, “I love Pastor Patti.” That’s great!! You can get a lot out of both of us, but we don’t have to split over this issue.

Paul says to the Corinthian church that it can have more than one pastor. One does not diminish the other, there are simply different gifts and different styles. Both are there to help broaden the faith. The same thing is true here. You can have more than one pastor. One does not diminish the other–they are just different. You can receive a greater understanding of the faith when you hear from people who are different.

The church in Corinth did not always agree with the things Apollos said, and what did they do? In Acts 17:11, Paul says, “Now the Bereans were more noble of character than the Thessalonians for they received the message with great eagerness and they examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” That’s a good guide. If you are unsure of what a person said of if you don’t agree with it, then go to the scriptures and check it out.