Barnabas Ministries UK

                               Rev. & Mrs. E. Anderson

A TEACHING PRIME TIMER

Taken from John Maxwell’s Leadership bible

Reading Acts 18: 24-28

Introduction

The book of Acts portrays Apollos as an excellent teacher. God greatly used him in a number of cultures, and he became known as the apostle’s right hand man.

What most impresses about Apollos , however, is his teachability. He never thought he had learned so much that he couldn’t improve his game. Luke points out several facts about him:

1.      He came from a cultured city – v24

2.      He was an educated man – v24

3.      He knew the Scriptures well – v24

4.      He’d been taught the Christian faith – v25

5.      He had an obvious gift – v25

6.      He taught truth accurately – v25

7.      He taught truth passionately – v26

Church history tells us that Apollos was such a good teacher that most people would rather listen ed to him than the apostle Paul. That’s quite a feather in his cap! This might cause us to assume he had everything together. Yet Apollos “knew only the baptism of John” – Acts 18: 25. he understood repentance. He understood what it meant to surrender to god. But he wasn’t familiar with the deeper truths of discipleship or the Spirit-filled life. So Aquila and Priscilla mentored him by taking the time to listen, evaluate, relate, and explain “the way of God” – Acts 18: 26.

Leaders face the danger of contentment with status quo. After all, if a leader already possesses influence and has achieved a level of respect, why should h keep growing?

·          Your growth determines who you are

·          Who you are determines who you attract

·          Who you attract determines the success of your organisation

Leaders must remain teachable.  Consider five guidelines to cultivate a teachable attitude:

1.     Cure your destination disease

Lack of teachability is rooted in achievement. If you stop growing you stop leading.

2.     Overcome your success

Success often hinders teachability. Look not on past trophies, but future goals.

3.     Swear off short cuts

Everything valuable has a price. The longest distance between two points is shortcut.

4.     Trade in your pride

Admit you don’t know everything, even though you do know some things.

5.     Never pay the price twice for the same mistake

Growth means you’ll make mistakes, but you must learn from each of them.