New Testament · New Testament
Aquila
“...and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.”Acts 18:3
Biography
Aquila was a Jewish Christian tentmaker originally from Pontus who, along with his wife Priscilla, had been expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius's edict expelling Jews. They settled in Corinth, where Paul met them on his second missionary journey and stayed with them for eighteen months, working side by side at their shared trade. Together, Aquila and Priscilla became among the most important lay leaders of the early church — hosting churches in their home in both Corinth and Rome, traveling as co-workers with Paul, and famously taking Apollos aside to teach him 'the way of God more accurately.' Paul refers to them as people who 'risked their necks' for his life.
Spiritual Lesson
Aquila and Priscilla model what it looks like for ordinary believers — people with jobs, a home, a trade — to make their entire life available to the gospel. They did not wait for official ministry credentials before teaching the most gifted preacher in the room. They did not wait for a larger house before hosting the church. Their home was the church. Their trade kept them near the people they were called to serve. They remind us that ministry is not a category separate from ordinary life — it is what ordinary life looks like when it is given over to God.