Tent-making, Tensions, and Testimony

By Dean Collins

I have a confession. Sometimes when I read the Bible, I get bored of the many details that the various authors included in their various narratives. I am a confessed “big picture” person. I am grateful for the many people who are interested in and skilled at keeping up with the details in every area of life. I am simply not one of them.

A byproduct of my general disinterest in the details results in some skimming of some passages. Some of my skimming is because I have read the Bible a lot. In addition to numerous readings of individual books of the Bible, I have read it cover to cover at least 30 times. Lest you think I am bragging, I am actually setting up my confession of getting to some sections and just not paying attention because of familiarity. The downside to skimming is that I sometimes fail to see things that are quite helpful in understanding both the grand story of scripture and also some specific applications that might bring clarification, conviction, or direction to my own spiritual growth.

In the Old Testament I find myself skimming through sections of Leviticus, Ezekiel, and a few other books that contain lots of lists, dimensions, genealogies and so on. In the New Testament I sometimes glaze over when following Paul’s travel itinerary. But in the details of the names of cities and people, there can be much to learn. Reading through the first half of Acts 18 today, I slowed down enough to find a few things that might be helpful to us in our understanding of how God uses difficulty and our various skills to advance the gospel.

Tent-making

When Paul left Athens, he made his first visit to Corinth. When he got to Corinth, he met a Jewish couple who had recently moved from Italy and were tent makers by occupation. Paul was also a tent maker, and they appeared to not only form a bond but maybe also a business partnership. We know from scripture that Paul, and apparently Aquila and Priscilla, were not only making disciples; they were making and repairing tents.

The relevance of this detail that Paul and his friends were bi-vocational is significant, I think. Through the centuries, followers of Christ have accepted that the great commission of Jesus in the last two verses of Matthew was given to all of us and not just to the apostles. We are all to go and make disciples. Logic would suggest that every Christian is not called to give up their employment, but rather we are all to be disciple-making while we are earning our wages through employment.  

Peter obviously understood that Jesus called every one of his followers to be active in discipleship, based on his comments in his first epistle:

 “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Peter was clear that we are all called to be a part of the priesthood of all believers. Consider what might happen globally if every Christian embraced bi-vocational ministry. Too often and for far too long, we have relegated discipleship to the paid staff at the church and to those missionaries we support with our offerings. We need all these whom we support in full-time ministry and missionary work, but here in the middle of Acts we find the most famous missionary ever involved in bi-vocational ministry. 

Tensions

I suspect that generally we don’t really enjoy working or living with tension. No one likes to live or work with emotional or mental strain, but by now we have all learned that we will, in fact, have many tensions in our lives. 

We know from fitness experts that without putting muscles under tension we cannot get stronger. We don’t want to overdue the stress or tension or we might experience injury. Here in Acts 18, we see that as Paul did his work of evangelism and church planting that tensions did arise. In fact, all through Paul’s missionary journeys he experienced opposition and frequent rejection. Sometimes the tension came from jealousy. Sometimes it came from differences of opinion, and sometimes it came from various power struggles in the church and with government leaders.

But note that the tensions did not stop the advancement of the gospel. Usually, the tensions simply caused Paul to move on to another place to advance the kingdom. And in his absence God raised up others to do the work to fill the hole left by Paul. 

Testimony 

Even in the face of difficulties and tensions, the Lord told Paul to continue advancing the message of Christ:

“Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

Paul obeyed this instruction from the Lord and stayed in Corinth a year and a half, which was instrumental in the establishment of the church in Corinth.

This chapter of Acts can be both an encouragement and a reminder to you and me. No matter what we do, earning a paycheck should not stop us from sharing the gospel. Every Christian is called to ministry. Second, no matter the tensions and difficulties we may experience, God can use these situations to strengthen us and to call others to participate in advancing the gospel as we help each other navigate the tensions in life. And finally, whatever we do and wherever we can, rest assured that God has plenty of other Christians somewhere in the story. They may be praying, protecting, helping, or deflecting our opposition. We know that God never leaves us alone in his kingdom work. He has called us to community.

Father, thank you for the examples we see in scripture of how you always work in and through every situation as we remain diligent to trust and obey your call in our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
Acts 18:1-18 ESV

 Photo by Josh Hild on Unsplash
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