Aug 25 – 2 Chronicles 24, 2 Chronicles 25 1 Corinthians 16:5-24 Psalm 102:18-28

1 Cor 16:12

Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity. 

It’s interesting that e come back to Apollos at the end of this letter. Remember as we began it, there were factions in the church in Corinth. “I’m of Peter! I’m of Paul! I’m of Apollos!”.

Who was this guy? Well he seemed to have been a very powerful preacher –  although his knowledge was initially limited. He’d not encountered the baptism of the Spirit, but then in Acts 18 he was taught by Priscilla and Aquilla. One can only assume that after this, his ministry became even more effective.

He was an important part in the church in Corinth. He came after Paul. We read that Paul planted, Apollos watered but God gave the growth. So Apollos probably saw some great growth in the church in Corinth – which would be why many were giving him the credit for it – there’s no indication that Apollos wanted this credit or approved of it.

But this last bit is interesting.

Apollos and paul clearly were close – Paul asked him to go back to Corinth, (strongly) but he refused – saying he’d go later. Why didn’t he want to go back? Was he concerned that going back might cause the factions to become a bigger problem? Had he lost confidence in himself to be able to handle those problems?

Was he unwilling to go in case they put him on an even bigger pedestal?

And the answer to this is, I don’t know.

The only other mention of this guy is  in Titus, and it’s a favourable mention. Did he ever actually make it to Corinth? Again, I don’t know.

This was a guy who had passion – was willing to learn and grow and made a big impact. But in Scripture is not mentioned much. And thinking about it… that’s a great achievement.

The divisions in Corinth were not the fault of Apollos, or Peter, or Paul. they were just preaching the gospel. It’s the church that built them up as more than they were. And we need to be careful not to do that ourselves. It’s easy to blame the preacher whose become too popular, but I don’t believe they ask for that. (Although, yes some might).

Be careful about putting people on a pedestal. They probably don’t want to be up there.