TEAM MINISTRY (30 OF 52)
Scripture: Acts 18:18, Acts 19:7
This content is part of a series.
Team Ministry (30 of 52)
Series: Discipleship Part Two
Christopher B. Harbin
Acts 18:18-19:7
We tend to think of leaders and heroes as amazing individuals who accomplish great feats on their own. We place them up on pedestals, thinking of them as accomplishing their tasks on their own. The reality, however, is that the vast majority of what we accomplish is done as the byproduct of many people working together. We may laud an individual, but true greatness requires the support and aid of a larger group of people. Where there is true greatness, it is most often the community that has joined with one another to accomplish great things.
Moses was surrounded by people who followed his lead and allowed him to accomplish much. The people under Joshua followed his guidance, allowing God to use them to take possession of the land Yahweh had promised them. Peter, John, and James were part of a larger team who worked together to bring Jesus' teachings into practice in Jerusalem and neighboring territories. Paul traveled with an advance team, leaving others behind to follow up on the ministry he started. Together, they worked to take the gospel of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire.
It is part of that team effort that we see in today's text from Acts 18 and 19. We find Paul, Apollos, Priscilla, and Aquila working together and in a tag-team approach to preach, teach, and encourage the new believers as they encountered them. We find no sense here of personalities vying for prominence, power, or superior influence. Instead, we find a team of players understanding that the mission before them was of much greater importance and significance than their individual contributions and roles.
Like John the Baptist on hearing that Jesus was gaining greater prominence, these leaders of the early church were not too concerned with questions of personal ambition. They were focused instead on their purpose of serving God. John the Baptist phrased it, saying, ''He must increas ...
Series: Discipleship Part Two
Christopher B. Harbin
Acts 18:18-19:7
We tend to think of leaders and heroes as amazing individuals who accomplish great feats on their own. We place them up on pedestals, thinking of them as accomplishing their tasks on their own. The reality, however, is that the vast majority of what we accomplish is done as the byproduct of many people working together. We may laud an individual, but true greatness requires the support and aid of a larger group of people. Where there is true greatness, it is most often the community that has joined with one another to accomplish great things.
Moses was surrounded by people who followed his lead and allowed him to accomplish much. The people under Joshua followed his guidance, allowing God to use them to take possession of the land Yahweh had promised them. Peter, John, and James were part of a larger team who worked together to bring Jesus' teachings into practice in Jerusalem and neighboring territories. Paul traveled with an advance team, leaving others behind to follow up on the ministry he started. Together, they worked to take the gospel of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire.
It is part of that team effort that we see in today's text from Acts 18 and 19. We find Paul, Apollos, Priscilla, and Aquila working together and in a tag-team approach to preach, teach, and encourage the new believers as they encountered them. We find no sense here of personalities vying for prominence, power, or superior influence. Instead, we find a team of players understanding that the mission before them was of much greater importance and significance than their individual contributions and roles.
Like John the Baptist on hearing that Jesus was gaining greater prominence, these leaders of the early church were not too concerned with questions of personal ambition. They were focused instead on their purpose of serving God. John the Baptist phrased it, saying, ''He must increas ...
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