Paul, Priscilla, and Aquilla
When you hear these names, what comes to your mind? Suppose you are familiar with the account of Paul’s missionary journey, recorded in the book of acts. In that case, you may have thought of these names to be synonymous with missionaries, pastors, and preachers. And that is correct. Paul, Priscilla, and Aquilla were co-missionaries who labored together to bring the gospel of Christ and His Kingdom to the Corinthians. But what you may not realize is that they were also entrepreneurs and business partners. According to the account in the book of Acts, chapter eighteen verses one to three, Paul lived with Priscilla and Aquilla and traded with them for profit. Together, they established and ran a tent-making company while they continued preaching the gospel in the synagogues for one year and six months (See Acts 18: 1-4, 11, 18).
The keyword in this text is “worked.” Paul worked with them (verse three). The word work is from the Greek word, Ergazomai; translated, employment, labor, to be employed in or about an occupation, trade with the idea of making a profit. In Matthew chapter 25, verse 16, Jesus used the same word to describe the man who received five bags of gold from his master and went at once and put his money to work and gained five more bags.
Through most of their missionary work, Paul and Barnabas adopted the method of supporting themselves. They had a trade by which they could profit to support their gospel work and care for their needs. They chose to provide for their needs in certain places they went to, so they won’t hinder the founding of a church or spread of the gospel.
So, the apostle Paul was an astute businessman, a prolific entrepreneur who spotted opportunities and took advantage of them as he traveled and preached the gospel (See 1 Corinthians 9:1-27). The word also means to procure or acquire by labor. In plain English, it means wealth creation (See Deuteronomy 8:18). We must establish a purpose for wealth creation (John 6:27). In first Corinthians chapter 9 verse 26, Paul said, “So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.” We can see here that Paul was intentional about using his diverse skill sets to generate profit for the sole purpose of creating an unquestionable character to be worthy to preach the gospel.
What is your attitude to work? Do you maximize opportunities to make a profit? Are you in business for the Kingdom? Are you living for yourself or for the Lord? Does your profiting benefit the work of God?
Instructive words. I always loved Paul’s approach to ministry and I think this approach is even more needful today in ministry when people see the church as a money-making enterprise. Paul says he worked to support his ministry so he won’t be a burden to anyone and no one will speak against him (or accuse him of eating their tithes and offerings ?). He did not however, condemn or derogate the importance of giving to the ministers (because ministering to people is also hard work) but he made a personal choice to make sure no one would say he is in it for the money. And this is the difference. I remember back in the university we had to generate money through selling workbooks, and doing various print and media jobs to support the gospel and God blessed our work.
The word of God has been reproached especially because of some men who see it as opportunity for personal aggrandisement. So they tell stories and even make veiled threats (of “the devourer”) to fleece even the poor members of every penny they can, while they live in extravagant affluence. That is not our gospel. There are a lot of good ministers out there who work hard night and day with good conscience to support the ministry. It doesn’t have to be a 9-5 job.
This is why I love the Kingdom concept movement because it has the tools to make it easier to do ministry in innovative ways and in time it will self sustain with the strategies we have in place to promote the gospel of God’s kingdom in people’s hearts!