Tent Making

Acts 18: 1-4

“1 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together—by trade they were tentmakers. 4 Every sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews and Greeks”

Paul supported himself on his missions, renting temporary work spaces and working as a tentmaker. He would talk with and get to know people while he worked, which is a method of evangelism that is used still today.  Each sabbath, Paul would enter the synagogue and evangelize in a less subtle manner.

I often wonder which of these two methods is more effective and I expect, for Paul, that both were effective.  In today’s world, I think that a person has to come to know you and trust you before they follow you into the faith.

God gave Paul the gifts of intellect, speaking, teaching….and tent making.

All for the purposes of sharing the gospel.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)