Ephesus: The First Preaching License

Apollos was a learned Jew, like Paul;
He knew the Scriptures, and could rightly prove
Jesus was the Christ; he felt the Lord’s call
To preach the gospel, and stay on the move!
He came to Ephesus; to Jews boldly preached;
Aquila and Priscilla met him there;
Though his message was correct and unbreached,
His faith from John was somewhat unaware!
So they taught him what he needed to know,
And since he wanted to go preach in Greece,
The elder brothers approved him to go;
They signed a letter; approved him to preach!
So Ephesus was the first church of all
To grant a license for a preacher’s call!

Every Christian denomination (Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, etc.) has its own system of training and certifying men and women to serve as ministers or pastors of its own churches. Since my mother took me to a Southern Baotist Church when I was rwo weeks old, and I’ve been a Baptist all my life, I am familiar with their system of certification of ministers. The following remarks are derived from the Baptist practice.

All believers are commanded by Jesus Christ to witness (communicate) with non-believers the good news of salvation, and because it is our obligation to love others, to try to get them to believe in Jesus as Lord, so that they will be saved from condemnation when they die. In that sense, every Christian is called upon to “preach” the gospel. But, like Paul was given a special call to “be apostle to the Jews and Gentiles” by Jesus, in like manner certain men and women believers feel a special call from God to give their entire lives to Him as preachers or ministers of the gospel, or to serve in other ways. When a Christian feels God is calling him into full-time Christian vocation, he or she usually answers the altar call or “invitation” the pastor gives at the end of his sermon, and the call is announced to the congregation of the church. If the person being called is a long-time member and well known within the church, at some later time, a special “licensing” council is held. This council is private and its few members are pastor, deacons, or mature Christians of the church. If the council feels the licensee is sincere and known to them as a true believer, it authorizes a written certificate to be issued by the church to the called person. This is what happened at the church in Ephesus for Apollos. Aquila and Priscilla, husband and wife believers who had been with Paul for years in Corinth, and traveled with him to Ephesus, noticed that Apollos was accurate in his gospel doctrine of Jesus, but was a disciple of John the Baptist. They counciled with him, so that his knowledge of Jesus was completely sound; after that the elders wrote a letter of approval to the brothers in Greece. This could be called the “first license” to preach given by any church.

If and when the licensee is “called” to work in another church or Christian organization, he is “ordained” by the home church. He is then authorized to perform marriages, conduct funerals, lead in liturgical ceremonies like baptism, the Lord;s Supper, etc. A certificate of ordination is issued by the church that licensed to person usually. An ordination council meets to ascertain his training and genuine calling into the ministry.

“Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke withr great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him." (Acts 18:14-22)