Be Teachable – No matter how much you know

Acts 18:24-26 – 24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately

Apollos was “competent in the Scriptures” (v.24), “taught accurately the things concerning Jesus” (v.25), “spoke boldly in the Synagogue” (v.26). Yet his views about baptism were faulty (v.25), and when Priscilla and Aquila heard him preach they heard things that were not right and they took Apollos aside to teach him “the way of God more accurately” (v.26).

No matter how competent we are in the Word of God, no matter how accurate we are in the things of Jesus, and no matter how bold we are in giving the gospel to the lost, we can still be wrong in some things and in need of instruction.

There is never a time when we cannot be taught by someone else. There is never a time when we may not need to come down from the place of authority and teaching and take the place of a student and be taught more accurately. An unteachable spirit is an ungodly thing. It is the opposite of the Gospel – no matter who we are and no matter how much we get right. There is always room for improvement. This is humbling and that is a good thing for pride is what hell is full of.

Let us be thankful for the teachers God puts in our paths to correct us and set us on a more truthful path. We have no record of Apollos balking at being taught by Priscilla and Aquila. In fact, the way the account reads demonstrates just the opposite. He “greatly helped those who through grace had believed” (v.27) and, “powerfully refuted the Jews in public showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus”.

Here is the pattern: teach accurately, learn more accurately, teach again. If you think you do not need to learn from others, you are not fit to teach.