By Reverend J. Loren Russell
Acts 18:26 NKJV
“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.”
The idea of husband-and-wife leadership is not a present-day phenomenon. In the earliest days of the church’s evolution, Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, not only co-pastored the church at Ephesus, but were powerful leaders of great integrity, knowledge, and truth. They had spent time in Corinth learning from the Apostle Paul. When they learned that Apollos, an eloquent Jewish man, well-versed in scripture from Alexandria — one of the largest Jewish communities of the ancient world — was in Ephesus preaching the message of repentance in the synagogues, they gave him an open invitation to their home. There, they would explain to him the way of the cross, or, as the NIV Bible phrases it, “the way of God more adequately” (v.26).
At this point in his ministry, Apollos had not heard of those who were baptized by the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Apollos knew that John the Baptist taught and baptized unto repentance, but the “more adequate” thing he needed to know was that the Messiah had already come and initiated a new Baptism. This new baptism was for all who believe in the life, death, burial, the resurrection of Christ from the grave, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, as evidenced on Pentecost. Priscilla and Aquila mentored Apollos, keeping the theological accuracy of scripture, expounding on, and explaining the way of God in its entirety.
This ancient husband and wife leadership team of Priscilla and Aquila gave evidence of the Lord’s sense of equity, diversity and inclusion in the church. The Lord put the same amount of responsibility on the shoulders of female leaders in the church as He did the men, calling them to mentor, to guide, and to instruct the young, exuberant, committed leaders of today and tomorrow in a more adequate way.
For this Women’s History Month, let me remind you that His call may be on your life. The Lord may be calling you out of the comfortable setting you have come to know in order to use you to create something extraordinary out of the ordinary. The Lord may be calling you to take someone by the hand to show them a more adequate way. He may be calling you to mentor a modern-day Apollos. It is not your ability that the Lord delights in, its your availability! Will you commit to making yourself available should the Lord decide to come calling? You have an open invitation.
Be Blessed!
Rev. J. Loren Russell is President/CEO of The JLR Company for Church Financial Strategy & Consulting; an associate minister at both Goodwill and The Greater Universal Baptist Churches in the Bronx; creator & host of “Matters of Faith – The Radio Show” Mondays 8:00 – 10:00 PM on Facebook LIVE and author of Matters of Faith: The Book (eBook available at Smashwords.com)
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