Tent-Pegs of the Kingdom Text: Acts 18:1-4
Introduction: The Gnostic Lie of the Two-Tiered Life
We live in an age that has swallowed a very old and very debilitating lie. It is a Gnostic lie, a spiritual poison that divides reality into two separate, non-communicating realms. On the one hand, you have the "sacred" realm, this is the world of pastors, missionaries, quiet times, and Sunday morning services. On the other hand, you have the "secular" realm, the world of plumbing, spreadsheets, sales quotas, and changing diapers. The sacred is what you do for God; the secular is what you do to pay the bills. And the result of this lie is a neutered and ineffective church, full of Christians who think their real work for the kingdom is confined to an hour and a half a week, and that the other forty, fifty, or sixty hours of their labor are spiritually neutral at best.
This is a profound theological error. It is a surrender of the world to the devil, leaving him undisputed master of the workplace, the marketplace, and the public square. The Scriptures know nothing of this sacred/secular divide. For the Christian, all of life is religious. All of life is lived before the face of God. Your work is not a distraction from your spiritual life; it is the primary theater in which your spiritual life is demonstrated. Your diligence, your honesty, your skill, your attitude toward your boss, these are all spiritual acts of worship or rebellion.
The Apostle Paul, the greatest missionary and theologian the world has ever known, gives us the lie to this two-tiered system. In this passage, we see him not in the pulpit or the lecture hall, but in the workshop. He is a man with calloused hands. He is a tradesman. And his labor is not an unfortunate necessity he must endure in order to get to the "real ministry." His labor is the platform for his ministry. It is the context of his witness. It is the embodiment of his gospel. This passage is a divine rebuke to our soft, white-collar, abstracted Christianity. It is a blueprint for a robust, grounded, working faith that takes dominion not by separating from the world, but by invading it, one workplace, one relationship, one well-made tent at a time.
The Text
After these things he departed Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, and his wife Priscilla, who recently came from Italy because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he was staying with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks.
(Acts 18:1-4 LSB)
Providence in Place and People (v. 1-2)
We begin with the geography and the divine appointments orchestrated by God's sovereign hand.
"After these things he departed Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, and his wife Priscilla, who recently came from Italy because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them," (Acts 18:1-2)
Paul's movements are not random. He is an apostle, a man sent, and his steps are ordered by the Lord. He leaves Athens, the city of philosophers and high-minded debate, and goes to Corinth. This is a move from the ivory tower to the shipyard. Corinth was a bustling, cosmopolitan, and notoriously immoral port city. It was a center of commerce and a cesspool of paganism. The gospel must prove its power in both places. It must be able to answer the philosophers on Mars Hill, and it must be able to rescue the idolaters and fornicators in the back alleys of Corinth. Paul does not retreat from a hard place; he advances to a different kind of battlefield.
And what does he find there? He finds the provision of God. He finds Aquila and Priscilla. Notice that God's provision for Paul is not a stipend from a missions board, but fellowship with fellow believers. The church is not built by lone-wolf professionals; it is built through a web of hospitality, friendship, and shared life. This husband and wife team will become essential partners in Paul's ministry.
But how did they get there? They were refugees. "Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome." A pagan emperor, in his own pride and for his own political reasons, issues an edict. He thinks he is solving a local disturbance. What he is actually doing is setting the stage for the next great advance of the gospel. God, the king of history, moves the Caesars of this world like pawns on His chessboard. The persecution of the world is the propulsion of the church. The enemy intends to scatter and disrupt; God uses it to plant and build. He takes the political upheaval of a pagan empire and uses it to arrange a divine appointment between an apostle and a married couple in a workshop in Corinth.
The Gospel Grind (v. 3)
Verse 3 is the theological center of this section, where the sacred/secular lie is demolished.
"and because he was of the same trade, he was staying with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers." (Acts 18:3 LSB)
Paul, the apostle, had a right to be supported by the churches (1 Cor. 9:1-14). But here, and in other places, he sets that right aside. Why? To model a crucial truth: the dignity of labor. His hands were not too holy for manual work. He was a tent-maker, or perhaps a leather-worker. This was skilled, difficult labor. He did not see this as beneath him. He saw it as his calling.
This had a powerful apologetic effect. Paul was no religious charlatan, peddling snake oil for a quick buck. He was not in it for the money. He paid his own way. He was a producer, not a parasite. His hard work gave his message an integrity that could not be questioned. He could look the Corinthians in the eye and say, "We did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you" (2 Thess. 3:8). The gospel he preached was free because his labor made it so.
This is a direct lesson for us. Your work matters. The way you conduct your business, the quality of your product, your honesty in dealings, your diligence when the boss is not looking, all of it is a sermon. For most of the world, the only Bible they will ever read is the life of a Christian. Your workplace is a congregation, and your labor is a liturgy. To do your work with excellence, as unto the Lord, is a powerful form of evangelism. It earns you the right to be heard.
The Rhythm of Kingdom Life (v. 4)
Finally, we see the beautiful integration of work and worship, labor and proclamation.
"And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks." (Acts 18:4 LSB)
Notice the rhythm. Six days of working with his hands, and on the seventh day, the Sabbath, he is in the synagogue reasoning from the Scriptures. The six days of labor gave him his standing in the community. The Sabbath gave him the formal opportunity to explain the meaning of his life and labor. The two are not in conflict; they are complementary. His life during the week was the illustration for his sermon on the Sabbath.
And what did he do on the Sabbath? He was "reasoning" and "trying to persuade." The Christian faith is not a collection of irrational feelings or a blind leap in the dark. It is a robust, logical, defensible worldview. It is a truth claim about reality. Paul did not just say, "Jesus loves you, just accept it." He reasoned with them from their own Scriptures. He built a case. He made an argument. He appealed to their minds. He sought to persuade them. True evangelism engages the whole person, intellect included.
And his audience was "both Jews and Greeks." The gospel is for everyone. It shatters the dividing walls of ethnicity, culture, and background. In the workshop, Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla are united by their common trade. In the synagogue, the offer of salvation is made to all on the same terms. The ground is level at the foot of the cross, and the logic of the gospel is universally applicable to every man, because every man is a creature of the one true God and accountable to Him.
Conclusion: Your Workshop, Your Corinth
The lesson for us is profoundly practical. God has placed you in your particular Corinth. Your office, your job site, your kitchen, your classroom, that is your mission field. The skills God has given you, your trade, your profession, that is your tent-making. It is the platform God has built for you to live out and speak of the gospel.
We must therefore repent of the Gnostic lie that separates our work from our worship. We must see our daily labor not as a secular necessity, but as a sacred calling. We are to be the best employees, the most honest business owners, the most diligent students, for the glory of the King. Our excellence and integrity in the marketplace will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.
And as we work, we must be ready to reason. We must be ready to persuade. We must be able to explain to our coworkers and neighbors why we live the way we do, why we have a hope that is unshakable, and why Jesus Christ is the only Lord and Savior. The kingdom of God advances through the steady, faithful, day-in-day-out grind of ordinary Christians who know that their hands are for working and their mouths are for witnessing, and that both are for the glory of God.