It is good to meet other people's friends at times and especially when they have something which you can learn from them.
We do learn when we open ourselves to others and as we broaden our horizons.
I have been so enriched by the men of God I have been with in Uganda and Kenya.
There is nowhere else where I would have learned such lessons about real life where it is hard, difficult, dangerous and challenging.
Yet, these men seem to overcome mighty hurdles.
Meet my friend Apollos.
He was very much a leader.
He is a Jew from north Africa and he is an eloquent enthusiastic preacher, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, which were available away back then.
Apollos knew quite a lot about Jesus Christ, but and it is an important 'but', he only knew the significance surrounding why and how John baptised in the River Jordan.
He was mighty in some vital areas, yet, his message was incomplete.
A husband and wife were listening to Apollos preach in Ephesus.
Apollos would speak about how it was essential to turn from your sins and believe in Jesus and be baptised in water.
This husband and wife paid great attention to what Apollos was saying.
They looked at each other and noticed something was missing.
They too were very much leaders at that time in various centres around the Mediterranean.
Apollos was not going far enough.
There was more.
What do you do when you sense a preacher is wrong, or that he is omitting a crucial subject, perhaps out of ignorance, or because he has never experienced all that Jesus Christ has for you and can do for you? It is wrong to dismiss him as no good! That would be sin.
Don't argue with him publicly and risk falling out with him.
What do you do? Our wise husband and wife invite Apollos home for lunch and talk with him over a meal, spelling out in a fuller and more adequate way what Jesus can do.
They quietly take Apollos aside, and explain positively and constructively, without being negatively critical, which could undermine, depress or even destroy.
This is an example of a very different dimension and quality of leadership, and you can read all about this gracious way to act and behave at the end of Acts Chapter 18 in the New Testament part of the Bible.
It is always wise to check out the actual text and make sure that what is being taught it there, and there is invariably a very special blessing for those who take time and make time to read the Word of God.
Try it and see! Apollos appreciates their concern, embraces the missing dimension, and has his knowledge widened, enlarged, expanded and deepened.
Ministry is always a two-way thing, and leaders realise this.
How does this article relate to your present situation? Are you open to receive as well as give and share and teach? Both are essential most of the time.
My Ugandan and Kenyan brothers in Christ gave me much more than I gave them.
Genuine leaders ought to display these two qualities and elements in their leadership strategy.
Sandy Shaw