NOTES for Act 18:23-28

Before us is an example of what the Lord wants from us in our relationships with one another. We see a group of people engaged in a certain work (namely, preaching the Gospel) who find themselves with a “rival” (see Acts 18:24-28). But that is the terminology of today's world. In fact, some people are working, and a person appears who does the same work. He longs for the same thing they do—the glorification of God in the hearts of those around him. Yet even despite this, reactions resembling those of a small child are possible: jealousy and possessiveness. A child has, for example, a flute and plays it, bringing joy to those around him. Suddenly it turns out that another boy has a flute too and also brings joy to others by playing his instrument... But the apostles rise above this. They find one another and other people in the joy of Christ, helping them go to Him by a straight path.

Today we read about the ministry of the apostle Paul and his companions in the large port city of Ephesus, the capital of the Roman province of Asia. In several episodes described by Luke, we can see events very similar to what happens in our own day.

Then as now, there are people burning in spirit, striving with all their hearts for knowledge of the truth, for awareness of what matters most in life. One such person is Apollos, ready to preach and bring to other people everything he has learned about salvation, and at the same time open to greater knowledge, ready to hear the good news about Christ and the gift of the Spirit from Paul's disciples, Aquila and his wife Priscilla. It is no accident that afterward Apollos becomes one of Paul's closest coworkers and friends, for the combination of readiness to teach and readiness to learn is a great and rare gift.

And this is exactly how the living message about Christ acts and is handed on. If we always thirsted for the deepening of our faith and knowledge of Him, while always being ready to share faith and knowledge with others, we too would be able to help in the work of evangelism.

The word "missionary" has now acquired an ambiguous shade of meaning. It is associated either with treacherous European Christians who contributed to the colonization and enslavement of less developed peoples, although many of them truly served God and not people, or with intrusive street agitators inviting you into yet another sect, although street preaching in itself is no worse than other methods.

Today's passage, however, opens to us the spiritual experience of a true missionary and servant of the Gospel, the apostle Paul. He is not an enthusiast; his preaching is not a self-appointed effort. The Spirit whom he received through faith in Christ impels him to ministry; it is his inner necessity. "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel" (1 Cor. 9:16), he says. And what matters most is that his ministry is not based on his desire or his strength. Paul acts and lives by the presence of Christ, who strengthens him, invisibly or visibly.