Jan 24: Building up the Body of Christ

“After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome.” (Acts 18:1-2)

“After staying there for a considerable time, Paul said farewell to the believers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila.” (Acts 18:18)

“Apollos 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 18:26)

I think it’s easy to decide that Acts is about Paul. (He does tend to dominate the landscape a bit!) However it’s a disservice to discipleship and the scriptural witness to miss other very important people in the story. The Bible is absolutely full of “extras”. People whose names are sometimes known (like Priscilla and Aquila) and often not (like the Syrophoenician woman). Who do memorable acts (like a thief defending Jesus on the cross) and some that we hardly even notice (like a women bathing Jesus feet long before he will turn around and do the same for his disciples).

My point is this: it’s easy to think that disciples are the people with their names in neon lights. The larger than life personalities… the great missionaries… the spiritual gurus… the natural healers… the keen intellects… the extroverts… the people brimming with charisma and quick tongues… the people whose actions directly cause cataclysmic change in the world… the archetypes of faithfulness (never mind that such as these don’t have a list of failings as well).

We all know Abraham, Moses and David. We know Peter, Paul and the many Johns. But this is not the beginning and end to an understanding of discipleship. Where are any of these people without the Priscillas and Aquilas of the world? Paul plants churches… but who nurtures and cares for them?

You do.

We do.

Priscilla and Aquila are mentioned in total six times. Three times in Acts. Three times in the collective letters of Paul (the end chapters of Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Timothy). They could look like minor characters – they never speak in the text and their actions are most behind the scenes. And yet we know from these other references that they are known to Christians in far spread places, they “risked their necks for my (Paul’s) life,” and they lead a church out of their own home. We known that when other (more charismatic) figures fall a bit astray from following in the way of Jesus that they are there to pull aside and explain the Way of God more accurately.

They are essential for the health and depth and vitality of the church. They are essential to fostering discipleship.

How are you helping by being a foundation of discipleship?
In what ways are you (named and unnamed) building up the Body of Christ?
Does overall picture of your life help others understand the way of Jesus Christ?