Unknown impact

As Paul closes his letter, he gives Titus one final charge:

Titus 3:13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 

Based on this statement, it is likely that that Zenas and Apollos were the ones who delivered Paul’s letter to Titus.  Although Zenas isn’t mentioned anywhere else in Scripture, Apollos was a well-known preacher during the first century.  He preached in many of the same regions that Paul did, and their ministries sometimes overlapped.

Interestingly enough, Apollos’ ministry began as an indirect result of Paul’s second missionary journey.  Paul met, befriended, and ministered alongside a couple named Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth.  After a year and a half, they traveled to Ephesus – Aquila and Priscilla stayed there, while Paul continued on to Caesarea and Antioch.  It’s in Ephesus that we first meet Apollos:

Acts 18:24-26 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus.  He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.  He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.  He began to speak boldly in the synagogue.  When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

What Aquila and Priscilla learned from Paul, they passed on to Apollos.  In heeding their counsel, Apollos finally met the Savior he had been looking forward to, based upon his understanding of the Scriptures.  His next step was to share with others his new relationship with God:

Acts 18:27-28 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.  On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.  For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Although Paul wasn’t directly involved in Apollos’ conversion, his previous actions of faithfully spreading the gospel led up to the moment when Aquila and Priscilla could lead Apollos to a better understanding of Jesus.  Paul, Aquila, or Priscilla would have had no foresight that their actions would have led to the rise of such a dynamic speaker and teacher for Christ.  However, the faithful actions of those three people eventually led to the encouragement and strengthening of many believers across the known world.

Our takeaway should be the same – be faithful in what God has asked us to do.  You never know when your mentoring of just one person will impact scores of other people.  Maybe you’ll see the fruits of those labors, or even get to work with your spiritual grand-children, like Paul eventually did when Apollos delivered the letter to Titus.  Or perhaps we’ll have to wait until Heaven to find out the full impact of our work for Jesus.

The point is to be faithful, and trust that God knows what to do with the fruit of our labor with him.

Keep Pressing,
Ken