Family Bible Study
Director, Christian Women’s Leadership Center, Samford University
Maximizing God-given Opportunities
Acts 19:1–5, 8–10, 23–28
A favorite childhood song says, “You can be a little missionary working for the Lord, for just like the big missionaries your voice can be heard. Every boy and every girl can share the Gospel Word.”
What might happen if we take these words to heart?
“Evangelism” means “to present the Word.” The Word is Jesus (John 1) so to “present the Word” means to present Jesus — the good news — verbally and nonverbally. Usually our actions speak louder than our words. When we present Jesus again and again, day after day, we re-present Him and become evangelists of good news.
Baptists believe that all Christians are to be ministers. We are all Christ’s “ambassadors,” or representatives. We should say what Christ would say, act as Christ would act, be as Christ would be. As we’ve seen in previous lessons, if the spirit of Christ is in us, then our bodies — eyes, hands, feet, mind, mouths — become Christ’s, ministering to others in this world on a daily basis.
How can we best “re-present Jesus” and “be” Christ to others?
Stories of Paul, Apollos, Priscilla, Aquila and other early Christians provide examples from which we can learn.
They lived in the vastly diverse multicultural society of the Roman Empire with such challenges as language, nationality, ethnicity, class, religion and politics.
In Ephesus, Paul participated in the life of the local synagogue for three months and in the debates — a popular entertainment — in the Tyrannus lecture hall for two years (Acts 19:8–10). Paul eventually encountered opposition when he challenged deeply entrenched, long-standing traditions and cultural values. His message did not support either the religious conservatism (the “status quo”) of the synagogue or the wildly popular religious commercialism that made many Ephesians financially wealthy (Acts 19:23–28).
We all encounter controversy and, at times, opposition. It may occur at our jobs, in our families, among our neighbors or in our own churches. There can be more pressure to conform to traditional “religious culture” than to transform it. But the good news of Jesus is more than “religious culture.”
Because we believe the good news, we try to “persuade,” not force, others to experience the power of the love of Christ. We should not minister to others in order to count converts or new church members or because it’ll be good for business or social prestige. Ministry is not about pride, guilt or competition. Who we are and what we are doing should be evident, “plain” to all, not secretive, undercover or manipulative (2 Cor. 5:1). The only motive that should “compel” us to minister to others is Christ’s love (2 Cor. 5:14).
Paul may have talked a lot and attracted much publicity, but his ministry was not a one-man show. He regularly named and thanked his co-workers who ministered in Christ’s name as God gave them opportunities. In Romans 16, we see some of them. Some traveled; others opened their homes to travelers. Some preached the good news in places where they were strangers; others shared the good news with neighbors they had known for years. This is a picture of the body of Christ today.
Some people from Romans 16 are in Acts 18–19. Paul’s friends Priscilla and Aquila had been in Ephesus awhile, part of the community, building relationships (Acts 18:26). They met young Apollos and became his teachers while Paul was away on a preaching tour (Acts 18:24–26). Later, when Apollos and his ministry became highly popular in Corinth and Paul less so, Paul noted that they both were “God’s fellow workers” and not in competition. Paul was a planter; Apollos was a waterer in God’s garden (1 Cor. 3:4–9).
God still uses our different types of ministries today. As followers of Christ, we are to make the most of every opportunity and carpe deim (“seize the day”) to “present Jesus.”
Asking ourselves how we can best represent Christ to others on a daily basis is the essence of ministry.
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