A Beautiful Picture of Discipleship

Back in August of this year I was preparing for Care Group Leader training which would take place at the end of that month. During my time of preparation I came across a passage in Acts 18 that includes a beautiful picture of discipleship in just a few verses. The passage I'm referring to is Acts 18:24-28:

²⁴ Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. ²⁵ He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. ²⁷ And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, ²⁸ for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. (ESV)

I simply want to make a few observations from this passage and note some aspects of discipleship:

1. Apollos had been instructed in the way of the Lord. Someone, at some point(s) in Apollos' life had taught him about God. Someone must have intentionally sought out Apollos and instructed him (25a).
2. Apollos didn't keep what he had learned to himself. Rather, he took what he had learned, albeit incomplete, and shared it with others. Having been made a disciple he was looking to make disciples (25b) (cf. Matt 28:18-20).
3. Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately (26). They intentionally discipled him. They took the things that they had been taught and passed them on to another believer.
4. Apollos didn't stop, having "arrived" at this greater knowledge of the way, but instead he kept on proclaiming the truths he had learned from others (27-28).
5. 
   

In these few verses we see a beautiful picture of biblical discipleship, one that we may seek to imitate, by God's grace.

Blake Gerber