Eager Apollos

I am a normal Christian in that I am constantly reading the Scriptures and trying to identify where my life finds harmony with the story of the people of God. Sometimes this takes the tone of enacting imperatives that the text demands of the life of every Christian. The majority of the time I look for the implications that the story has for the community of believers, but occasionally I search the scriptures in the hopes of finding someone with whom I can relate. I look for a character who seems to share the same place in life as myself.

The character’s story isn’t for the purpose of guidance, the Bible has enough of that to go around, but for the reassurance that I am not alone. Sometimes I marvel when I look up at the sky and note that astronomers from thousands of years ago have and those to come will see virtually the same view as myself. It is the shared experience that links me with humanity past and humanity to come. In the same way when you find someone who has looked down the same path you are looking down you feel a kinship with her or him.

At this point in my life when I am trying to get my own ministry off the ground, I am trying to form an identity as a “minister” or a “pastor” maybe even an “evangelist,” I have looked to the scriptures and have found an affinity with the figure of Apollos.

“Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately.” (Acts 18:24-26, NRSV)

Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew. This means he was from the heart of the intellectual enterprise of his day and more knowledgeable about the scriptures than most. He was probably a solid apologist, synthesizing cutting edge ideas with the mainstay of the Hebrew Bible. Still, he didn’t know it all.

Apollos passionately preaches the incomplete story of Jesus. I find this tidbit funny because I don’t think it would happen today. In my experience, Christians are so anxious about not doing God’s will or making a mistake or not having all the facts that their ministry is eventually stillborn. Apollos’ boldness is good. His eagerness to preach in the synagogue is commendable but even more commendable is his humility and willingness to learn from those who know more than himself. Priscilla and Aquila take him aside and fill him in on the rest of the story and Apollos goes on to be a convincing preacher.

I definitely feel that I don’t have the whole story, but I must say something about Christ and what he as done for humanity. I have a Masters in Divinity, I know my scriptures, my teachers and churches have sought to help me understand the gospel, but their work is not yet done, I don’t know it all and I can’t wait forever to start my ministry. My hope is that I maintain the willingness to learn that Apollos has proven himself to have. I want his boldness and his “burning enthusiasm,” but during this time of forming my ministerial identity I need the feed back of those around me. I see this commonality with Apollos in being desperately ready and, yet, not as ready as either of us were hoping.

I also find myself envying the task that the Lord assigned to Apollos.

“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” (First Corinthians 3:5-6, NIV)

To serve as the one who tends to the watering of the plant is to be concerned primarily with the discipleship of those under your care. Evangelism is not absent but nursing new believers is where your talent really lies. Talent has to be proven, but you can be assured that my passion focuses on the care of new believers rather than the creation of them.

Young believers today have an increasingly negative view of Christianity. Cynicism toward the church is growing and is the greatest obstacle to the mission of making disciples in the United States. Young believers views are growing more like those of nonbelievers in seeing the church as hypocritical and judgmental. While Christianity is a “self-critical enterprise” with moral imperatives and demands on those who adhere to the faith, it is not simply a legal system that we follow. Christianity is an identity we try to make our own.

Baptism is not simply a public proclamation of belief but a memory that reminds us of our allegiance to Christ. Communion is not simply a remembrance of a two thousand year old execution, but participation in the hope of Christ’s return. The scriptures are not a manual of navigating a complex and unfair existence but the history of God’s interaction with the people on this planet. It should be every minister’s task to help those floundering in the faith to take these elements to heart and be apart of, what Rodney Clapp called, a “Peculiar People.” A people set apart for God’s work. Apollos’ task was to tend God’s people and I hope to do the same for the students on the campus of CWU.

It is due to the resemblance between myself and this passionate and articulate Apologist, that I have decided to take his name. For my first few steps into professional ministry I will strive to be an “Eager Apollos.”