What You Can’t Learn in Seminary
Introduction: The road to virtually any worthwhile goal is long and tough. To become a pilot in the U.S. Airforce you have to start with a college degree. If you make it through the brutal application procedure (over 95% washout) you spend three months in Officer Training School. Then comes a year of undergraduate pilot training, two years of operational training, and two more years of co-pilot training. The goal of becoming a captain in the Air Force from start to finish takes a minimum of 9 years.
Suppose you want to be a surgeon instead. Again, you start with a college degree, followed by another difficult application procedure, four years of medical school, two years of general residency, and up to five years of surgical residency. From start to finish can easily take from ten to 13 years. By the way, just the other day I read a story about a guy who was contemplating a medical career. He was telling his own story: “I fell in love with a girl while I had a job selling ice cream on the beach. We wanted to get married, but she said that she would never marry me unless I was a doctor. She wanted me to give up my job selling ice cream, go to college for a premed degree, then medical school for four years and then residency. In the meantime, I figured, what happens if she meets another guy and decides to marry him? Then I’m stuck being a doctor.”
Or suppose you want to be a pastor. Four years of college with a decent grade point average will get you into most of the top-notch seminaries. While some seminary degrees can be completed in three years, others take four, with the prerequisite of at least one semester in a pastoral internship. Often the pastor has to serve several years as an associate pastor before receiving an assignment as a senior pastor. Frequently another graduate degree is sought in a related field, such as counseling, history, or literature. While it is possible to reach one’s goal in a minimum of seven years, it is much more likely to take 9 or 10 years to achieve the goal.
Whenever anyone devotes that much of his life to preparation, to say nothing of the financial investment demanded, there is the tendency for him to assume upon graduation that he is an expert, fully equipped and ready for anything. It doesn’t take long, however, to realize that formal education is no substitute for the school of life and the experiences it provides. The pilot finds that the simulator he flew for so many hours doesn’t perfectly match the conditions in the sky, and only years of flying allows that joystick to become an extension of his arm. The young surgeon who has seen virtually every known condition in the textbooks and has assisted his teachers in countless surgeries, soon learns that no two appendices are exactly alike, and great discernment is needed that cannot be taught in a class. He finds that there is no substitute for hands-on experience.
Especially is that true of the ministry. While I would be only slightly hesitant to get into a jet with a pilot who had just received his captain’s commission, or to go under a knife wielded by a surgeon in the first week of private practice, I would be considerably more hesitant to commit my spiritual life and that of my family to a pastor who was a fresh seminary graduate. The reason is that I was one once. When I got that sheepskin, I thought I had all the answers; I thought I was a theological expert, a counseling genius and an administrative whiz. It took me about five years to get over seminary.
Now that’s a long introduction to Acts 18. There are many ways one could deal with the material in this chapter, but I have chosen to look at two different scenes in the chapter under the common theme of “What you can’t learn in Seminary.” Formal training, which both Paul and Apollos had in abundance, is fantastic, but it isn’t everything. Some of their success is ministry was undoubtedly related to their “seminary experience,” but by no means all of it or even the most important part of it. God had some other schools for these apostolic heavyweights to attend, and those schools are open for students today as well.
First, I want us to consider Paul’s experience in the School of Adversity. Then we’ll look at Apollos’ experience in the School of Accountability.
Paul in the School of Adversity
Description of the school (1-8). The School of Adversity is sometimes confused with the School of Hard Knocks and the School of Bad Luck, but it is distinct from both of those institutions. The School of Hard Knocks has an open admissions policy in that anyone, believer and unbeliever, is eligible to attend. It has some valuable courses, for sure, and its graduates are generally better equipped for the real world than those who never attend.
The School of Bad Luck, on the other hand, admits only unbelievers. Some of its graduates will brag about the degrees they’ve received from this school, but in reality, the courses taken are more harmful than helpful.
In contrast to those two, the School of Adversity admits only believers. In fact, the only ones admitted into its graduate program are believers who have great potential for success.
The School of Adversity has a number of branch campuses and Paul attended quite a few of them. The one we find him at in Acts 18 was at Corinth, where he studied for nearly 18 months. The first course he took was one in weakness and fear. He describes it later in 1 Corinthians 2, where he writes, “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.”
Now we aren’t told why he was in weakness and fear, but this second missionary journey had been extremely difficult and full of trials and tribulations, and perhaps it was getting to him. In city after city he had been scoffed at, ridiculed, threatened with bodily harm, and in other ways made the brunt of attack of the enemy of our souls. Only at Berea had he had what might be termed a really encouraging response, and even there he had been chased out of town by the Jews who came from Thessalonica. His last stop, in Athens, had resulted in a few converts, but wrestling with the heavyweight philosophers there had likely taken its toll on Paul emotionally.
The second course Paul took in the School of Adversity was one in financial deprivation. Verse three indicates that immediately upon his arrival in Corinth he sought a job as a tentmaker, the reason being that his finances were too meager to allow him to devote his time exclusively to ministry. Later, in 2 Cor. 9, he spoke more directly of his dire financial condition when he arrived in Corinth. It wasn’t until Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia with some aid that Paul was able to quit making tents and devote himself completely to the ministry.
The third course he took was in handling violence and blasphemy. Time and time again Paul preached in the synagogues, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. And time and again the response was the same—resistance and blasphemy. This time, according to verse 6, he shook out his garments and said to them, “’Your blood be upon your own heads! I am clean. From now on I shall go to the Gentiles.’ And he departed.”
I don’t know what other classes Paul signed up for in the School of Adversity, but my suspicion is that he was taking more than a full load. I say that because in verses 9-10 the Lord Himself spoke to Paul in the night by a vision to press home some lessons. I get the distinct impression that the adversity he faced was designed for the very purpose that he might learn these lessons.
The lessons Paul learned there (9-10)
1. Renouncing of fear. “And the Lord said to Paul by a vision at night, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” Fear is a common, virtually universal, emotion. It comes most often from the unknown. Yet by far the vast majority of things we fear never come to pass. When, for example, we face the adversity of losing a job, one of the biggest struggles we have is with fear. We fear that our financial resources won’t last; we men fear loss of respect; we fear that we will lose our house or retirement benefits, etc. But most of those things don’t happen to people who lose their jobs. I don’t say they never happen, but rarely.
A child of God has more reason than most not to fear at a time like this. Not only are most fears never realized for people in general, but the Christian has special promises from God that He will meet our needs so that we won’t become destitute. In addition, we have the Body of Christ to stand with us in time of need.
There are actually two things people fear most: failure and success. The fear of failure paralyzes many people. What if I’m not accepted? What if I can’t please the boss? What if? What if? Perhaps this was part of Paul’s struggle in Corinth. He hadn’t been a screaming success in Athens, and the opposition here in Corinth started even earlier than usual.
But closely related to the fear of failure is the fear of success. Paul knew that as surely as his ministry was successful there would be conflict with the Jews. It happened everywhere he went. Success always came at a very high price to him personally. Have you ever gotten to the point in your life where success actually created fear? You were afraid that you would get used to having everything go your way and then the rug would get yanked out from under you. Even to that kind of fear the Lord says, “Do not be afraid any longer.” So long as we do not put our hope on success, but on the Lord, we can face that too without fear.
I’m reminded of an exhortation in 1 Timothy 6 to those who were experiencing financial success: “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”
2. Encouragement to continue. The Lord says, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent.” When a person is consumed by fear he is paralyzed emotionally and gets very little done. Paul needed to learn that his own fear and trepidation was not a curse but a condition for dynamic communication, for now he would have to depend on the Lord and not his own eloquence.
Every preacher worth his salt has learned this lesson, though we tend to forget it so readily. It is when our strength is depleted, when our rhetoric is unpolished, and when we are weary that the Lord has a much better tool for empathetic, sensitive communication. I can personally testify that often when I feel I have been least effective, people seem to have been helped most.
3. Assurance of God’s presence and protection. The Lord added, “For I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you.” How many times in the Scripture are God’s people assured of His presence! Again, and again the words come, “Lo, I am with you always.” Paul needed that and we need that. The only way Paul could face Corinth successfully was with the assurance that God was with him, and the only we can face our modern Corinths with their corruption, uncertainty, trials, and opposition is with the firm confidence that God is with us.
Here we can learn a lesson from a small child. Almost nothing frightens a child if his mother and father are nearby. If he’s in the middle of a king-size bed between his mom and dad, he can sleep right through the worst thunderstorm in history. Strange noises don’t bother him, darkness doesn’t bother him, monsters don’t bother him; he’s really oblivious to all real and imaginary dangers. That’s how it should be with us, and that’s why God so frequently reminds us of His presence.
The assurance of the Lord’s presence is followed quickly in Paul’s vision with assurance of His protection. That had not always been true; he had known persecution and physical danger. And he would know them again in the future. I love the words of Isaiah 42:3 regarding the coming Messiah: “A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish.” I Cor. 10:13 says the same thing: “No trial has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
4. Promise of success. The Lord says, “for I have many people in this city.” That statement indicated to Paul that God was at work in Corinth and would not leave him without fruit for his labor. What a refreshing thing it was for Paul to learn that Corinth was not just a foreboding city of hostile people, but also a city filled with potential converts. Everywhere he went and in everyone he met he was looking for the Lord’s people.
This can happen to all of us as we look at our city, family, or place of work. We need to see people, not problems. We need to see them as potential converts, not potential enemies of the faith. Unfortunately, the attitude of many Christians is very pessimistic regarding outreach. Someone defined a pessimist as a person who thinks that the light at the end of the tunnel is a train coming the other way. For a Christian the light at the end of the tunnel is the Light of the World.
The results of Paul’s “graduation” (11-17). The Apostle Paul went to the School of Adversity, he learned his lessons well, and I would suppose it wouldn’t be stretching a point too much to say that he graduated. Not that he would never face adversity again, but at least for this time in his life God accomplished His purposes in Paul’s life. For some eighteen months (verse 11) he remained in Corinth, preaching and teaching Christ. Many whom the Lord chose and wooed to the faith joined him in the church there.
Now in Acts 18 there is an account of another school that the Lord has established for his choice servants, and that is the School of Accountability.
Apollos in the School of Accountability
There are several other names this school is known by—the School of Discipleship or the School of Biblical Confrontation. Attendance at this school can be every bit as painful as the School of Adversity, though it is not our health or wealth or safety that are at stake here, but usually our pride.
Description of the teachers in this school. We meet them first in verse 2, where we are told that upon arrival in Corinth Paul found a Jew named Aquila and his wife Priscilla. They had recently been exiled from Rome because the Emperor Claudius had instigated a vicious anti-Semitic campaign. Apparently the reason Paul located them is because he was broke and hit the streets looking for a job. The trade his father had taught him (all rabbis were supposed to have one) was tentmaking. Aquila and Priscilla were tentmakers. They were also hospitable, inviting Paul to stay with them.
We aren’t told when this couple became Christians, but I would assume that Paul led them to Christ while a guest in their home, although it is possible that they found Christ while in Rome. They were apparently associated closely with Paul throughout his eighteen months in Corinth, and when he left Corinth to travel to Ephesus (v. 18), they went with him. In fact, Paul stayed only very briefly in Ephesus this time, desiring to get back to Antioch as soon as possible. However, he left Aquila and Priscilla behind to minister during his absence. And it is there in Ephesus that we first meet the pupil and receive a description of him.
Description of the pupil (24-26). Apollos is first mentioned in verse 24: “Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was proficient in the Scriptures. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was accurately speaking and teaching things about Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; 26 and he began speaking boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately to him.”
First, we are told that Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew by birth. That would reveal to us that he had been exposed to fine cultural and educational opportunities, for Alexandria, Egypt had a Jewish community that was known far and wide, principally because of Philo, a great philosopher and prolific author of Hellenistic Judaism.
Second, we are told that he was eloquent. The Greek word used here means “learned in knowledge and the ability to express it.” He was able to put his thoughts in such a way as to capture the minds and emotions of his listeners.
Third, he was well versed in Scripture. Not only had he read the account of the actions of God among his people in what is now our Old Testament, but he was able to interpret them with force and meaning. No dry, conceptualist scholar, he could open windows so that his listeners could see through to truth and receive the fresh vitality of his insight. I imagine he knew most of the OT by heart and could make its characters come alive.
Fourth, Apollos was enthusiastic about Jesus. This is indicated in several ways. We’re told in verse 25 that he had been “instructed in the way of the Lord.” Apollos had pursued diligently the Messianic promises. Not only that, he was fervent in spirit. This may mean that he was boiling over with the urgency of the Gospel message.
Further, there was no heresy in his teaching about Jesus—he was speaking and teaching accurately. In fact, the only problem was that his doctrine was incomplete. He knew only the baptism of John. Remember John the Baptist’s message, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand …. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” It seems that Apollos’ gospel was one of anticipation and preparation rather than of fulfillment. He was calling people to a purity of life and obedience to the Law, but he knew nothing of life in the Spirit. He didn’t know about the baptism John himself spoke of when he said, “I baptize you with water, but there is coming one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
Finally, Apollos was courageous. Verse 26 indicates that he was speaking boldly in the synagogue. All this background on Apollos is given in preparation for a most unexpected encounter.
The pedagogy employed (26). Verse 26 reads, “But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” Now before considering the substance of what this couple shared with Apollos, let us consider the fact that they even dared approach him. He is a brilliant, eloquent, and bold preacher doing intellectual battle with the best minds the synagogue could produce. Aquila and Priscilla are just ordinary folk, laypeople, mind you, who approach him and ask to have a word with him. It’s possible he at first thought they wished to have his autograph or desired his insight and discernment regarding some personal problem they had. Instead, they took him aside and began to gently confront him with the fact that his theology was missing something.
I am sure they first affirmed him as far as they could and complimented him on his eloquence and knowledge of Scripture. But then they became skilled surgeons of the Spirit, probing his mind and sharing with him the missing dimension. They told him the exciting news that Jesus was still present as the living, loving, personal Lord in the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit was available to indwell, fill, and empower every believer. They informed him that the Christian life is not just living for Christ, but Christ living in the believer in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And Aquila and Pricilla were successful. Apollos listened to the two humble tentmakers and was willing to learn from them. I think the reason is because they approached him in private, in dependence upon the Spirit, and with the right motivation.
The results in the life of the “graduate.” Apollos graduated from the School of Accountability. And verse 27 shows us the results: “he helped greatly those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.” Not only that, we read in 1 Cor. 1 that Apollos had such a powerful influence on the church at Corinth that an entire segment of the church considered themselves his disciples. Now that isn’t mentioned in a positive vein, but neither is Apollos blamed for the fact. After all, Paul also had a group of avid followers. However, I think it does indicate that Apollos’ ministry at Corinth was very powerful and effective. Later, in 3:5 Paul elaborated: “What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.”
Conclusion: When life is at its toughest or when we are confronted by a fellow believer regarding some deficiency in our lives, the potential for spiritual collapse is at its greatest. We can easily take a dive because the trials are too great. And there is a great temptation to bristle at our brother’s attempt to confront us with some weakness, especially if we consider him to be inferior to us.
But at the same time, these two life situations present enormous potential for edification and growth. They are two schools that God has established to teach us what Seminary never can, even what the pastor’s sermons can’t teach us, or Bible Study fellowship. When we graduate from these schools we are equipped for ministry and for every good work.
Note: This sermon is included in order to make the series complete, but I acknowledge this is not an adequate treatment of Acts 18.
Tags:
Adversity
Fear
Apollos
Aquila
Priscilla