Imagine you were given one opportunity to speak to a group and convince them that something brand new was breaking through. Consider what you would say if you were given the opportunity to speak on behalf of a radical shift in thinking, and you had one shot at it. What would you say?
Now, consider if you had to speak on behalf of something brand new in the world of faith and God and religious practice? If you were afforded the opportunity to inaugurate a new work of God, how would you do it?
That’s exactly what Acts 2 tells us that Peter did. On the Jewish Day of Pentecost, with faithful people gathered in Jerusalem, coming from all points of the planet — we read that Peter is the primary spokesperson of a brand new work of God, never before seen. And what is striking to me is the passage that Peter begins with. In the very first message about the work the Messiah has come to unleash, Peter and the early Church have one chance — and only one — to ground this new movement in Scripture.
That passage? It’s not from the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy). It isn’t even from a major prophet such as Isaiah or Ezekiel; instead, it’s from a “minor” one, Joel — one who fills a whopping 4 pages in the Bible. With a veritable smorgasbord of scriptural references, the fact that Joel is chosen can’t be a coincidence; it’s clearly not chosen at random. Instead, the words from this minor prophet must be considered major in the re-formation of the people of God, and in this new work that the Spirit is doing.
And so, quoting Joel, Peter tells any who will listen: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people” (NIV). Hmm, that’s interesting. Seems like this new work of God is going to be bigger than before; reach way farther than in the past.
Peter continues with his quotation from Joel: “Your sons and daughters will prophesy; your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.”
In this new work being unleashed today, Peter says, it is no longer just about the Jewish people; Gentiles are included, too. If that weren’t earth-shattering enough, he goes on: this new work also will not be focused on status or social standing; ALL people from all walks of life will experience AND speak of this new work of God.
This includes not just the old, but the young. This involves not simply the influential and important, but the overlooked and disregarded. And, Peter makes clear, it involves both men and women.
What Peter speaks of in Acts 2, Paul powerfully summarizes in Galatians 3.26-28: Because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, all who have been baptized into him are now his children. And among his children there is no longer Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male and female. Paul, like his predecessor Peter, is not saying those differences no longer exist; instead, he is saying, they are no longer determinative for our place in God’s family. Instead, as Paul makes clear to the Galatians: “All of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
It’s a wonderful principle, one that hardly any Acts 2-believing person would dispute. But what does it mean in practice?
Well, I think we get to see exactly that as Acts and the New Testament unfold. Take, for example, Acts 21. In a casual aside, we read in verse 9 that Philip the Evangelist has four daughters who prophesy. In this verse, not one, but two words are exactly the same as we see back in Acts 2: daughter and prophesy.
And though this passage is easy to miss, I would suggest that, for this very reason, it is worth our attention. Because Luke can mention these 4 women without any further comment demonstrates how these daughters are a natural (and unsurprising) fulfillment of Peter’s quote of Joel in Acts 2. The fact that Luke can casually mention them is a testimony, I believe, to the fact that they weren’t alone. Apparently Luke doesn’t have to spend a lot of time here because these women weren’t the only female prophets. If anything, I think Luke would say: What’s the big surprise here? Weren’t you paying attention to what happened on the Day of Pentecost?
Another example is found in the married couple who first appear in Acts 18. In verse 2, Luke makes a point of telling us that Paul meets a man named Aquila. And, almost as if an afterthought, Luke tells us that Aquila recently came to Corinth with his wife Priscilla. Paul forms a bond with these folks, not just because of their common faith (all 3 are Jewish believers in Jesus), but also because they share a common trade (tent-making).
That’s all we know of this couple until they show up again in verse 18, when Paul decides that, on the next leg of his missionary journey, he wants to invite Priscilla & Aquila to join him. Note how quickly it goes from meeting Aquila (and oh, by the way, his wife), to: Paul enlisting Priscilla & Aquila as fellow missionaries. In a casual but clear inversion of names, Luke is making a point: Paul is taking Priscilla and Aquila along as partners in the work. And by the end of the chapter, Priscilla & Aquila are teaching a guy named Apollos; together, they are sharing the way of Jesus and mentoring a new disciple.
And that’s it. That’s all we learn of this couple in the book of Acts. But they do show up 3 other times in the New Testament — with all 3 passages easy-to-overlook if we’re not paying attention. In 1 Corinthians 16.19, Paul mentions that Aquila & Priscilla have a church meeting in their home. In 2 Timothy 4.19, Paul sends them greetings.
Finally, the 2 show up in Romans 16. It’s a fascinating chapter; again, full of names easy to overlook. But each name — each person — has meaning to Paul. The chapter begins with Paul vouching for Phoebe, a woman Paul calls a deacon, and who is apparently delivering the letter of Romans. (By the way, in ancient times, delivering a letter wasn’t a postal duty; it also had an explanatory role, as well. Phoebe was likely the one Paul entrusted to read Romans and communicate its message to the gathering of the church in Rome.)
And after Phoebe, Paul then starts saying ‘hello’ to his friends and co-workers in Rome. And the first ones he thinks of to greet are Priscilla & Aquila, calling them “my fellow workers in Christ Jesus.” Later, Paul will use that same term to describe Timothy (Romans 16.21), and elsewhere, Titus (2 Corinthians 8.23), along with Mark & Luke (Philemon 24). Paul references Apollos (the same one Priscilla & Aquila taught) as a fellow worker (1 Corinthians 3.9). In Philippi, Paul mentions Euodia & Syntyche, calling them “my fellow workers,” describing how these women have struggled with him in the cause of the gospel (Philippians 4.3).
All of this to say: Paul uses “my fellow worker” to describe, not simply folks who hang around with him, but who are a vital part of his ministry — men and women who are working alongside him in the spreading of the good news of Jesus Christ.
In other words, they are fulfilling the very words Joel spoke about and Peter preached about. This new work of God, from its very first days, was intended to be a family where all people of all backgrounds used their gifts and talents to share and speak and serve in a way that brings glory to Jesus.
So, the challenge, as I see it, for any church that strives to be an Acts 2 church; a New Testament church, is this: How can we be a place where everyone is invited to be changed and transformed by Jesus? And how can we be a family where everyone is then encouraged, equipped, and fully unleashed to use their gifts?
