What Apollos Can Teach Us About Following Jesus

Apollos had everything going for him.

He was brilliant. Educated in Alexandria — one of the great intellectual centers of the ancient world. He was a gifted communicator, trained in rhetoric, and he knew the Scriptures deeply. He believed in Jesus. He preached boldly. And by every outward measure, he was doing great.

But there was a gap in what Apollos knew. And if Priscilla and Aquila hadn’t pulled him aside, that gap might have stayed there.

Luke tells us in Acts 18 that when this couple heard Apollos teaching in the synagogue at Ephesus, they recognized both his gifts and his blind spots. They didn’t embarrass him publicly or run him off. They took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately. And Apollos — gifted, educated, passionate Apollos — was humble enough to let them.

That moment changed everything for him. Apollos went on to Corinth and powerfully helped those who had believed, publicly demonstrating from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

What made the difference? Someone was willing to invest in him, and he was willing to be taught.

The Gap Nobody Talks About

I spent a lot of years as a Christian who was passionate about Jesus but had no idea how to actually follow him. I didn’t know how to study the Bible, share my faith, or pray with any depth. I wasn’t lazy about it. I just didn’t know what I didn’t know.

Until someone showed me.

One-on-one discipleship was the missing piece in my walk with Jesus. And when it finally happened, it wasn’t complicated. But it was both life-changing and simple. It was just someone further down the road making time to walk with me.

That’s exactly what Priscilla and Aquila did for Apollos. They weren’t apostles. They were a married couple who loved Jesus and knew the Word — and they were paying close enough attention to notice when someone needed help.

Two Things Discipleship Requires

Here’s what I keep coming back to in this passage: discipleship requires two things working at the same time. Someone willing to invest, and someone humble enough to receive it.

Apollos could have bristled. He could have pointed to his credentials or defended his track record. Instead, he listened. He learned. And God used him in ways that outlasted any single sermon or synagogue visit.

Following Jesus isn’t a solo project. It never has been. The early church grew the way it did not just because people preached boldly in public, but because people poured their lives into each other in private.

One Conversation at a Time

If you’re a follower of Jesus, two questions are worth sitting with this week:

Is there someone in your life who is pouring into you? Helping you grow in places you can’t see on your own?

And is there someone you could pull aside and help? Someone with passion and gifts, but gaps you might be able to help fill?

The word of the Lord increases and prevails mightily (Acts 19:20). But it does so one conversation at a time.