Be A Barnabas

“When [Paul] came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.” Acts 9:26-28 NASB95

One of the great heroes of the Bible is a man who is usually only thought of as an answer to a trivia question. Who was Paul’s partner on the first missionary journey? The answer is Barnabas. In subsequent journeys, Paul’s partner was Silas. So, who was this Barnabas fellow, and what made him one of the greatest men in the Bible?

We are first introduced to Barnabas in Acts 4:36. The church had many members who had lost all their worldly possessions because of their faith in Christ. Barnabas was moved by the Spirit to sell a piece of property and give the proceeds to the impoverished brethren. We are also told in that verse that the name Barnabas means “son of encouragement.” Barnabas is also sometimes called “the good hearted” by students of the Scriptures.

What made Barnabas such a great man of faith? Barnabas did not see people for who they were—he saw people for who they could become in Christ. He didn’t see “poor people”; he saw brothers who were co-laborers in Christ. He didn’t see the great persecutor of the church when he saw Paul; Barnabas saw a new believer with unlimited potential because of his unique background as a leader of Israel. When other Christians, even the apostles, were afraid of Paul; it was Barnabas who befriended Paul and helped the near-sighted believers in Jerusalem look beyond their immediate worries about the genuineness of Paul’s conversion.

To sum it all up in the simplest way: you can’t have a Paul without a Barnabas. For every great leader in the faith, there are countless “Barnabases” behind the scenes serving as people of encouragement.

Part of encouragement is having the backbone to always stand for what is right. Later, Barnabas would do the same for young John Mark. On the first mission trip, Mark got home-sick and quit when the road had a few potholes. Mark had shown genuine repentance by volunteering to go again on the next mission trip. Paul didn’t want to give the boy a second chance. Barnabas, always the son of encouragement, knew Paul was wrong. When Paul wouldn’t recognize the potential in giving Mark a second chance, Barnabas was true to his name. Always the Son of Encouragement, he took John Mark and went on his own journey. Years later, from a Roman prison, Paul would write for Timothy to bring Mark to minister to the Christians in Rome and help Paul during his time behind bars. I guess you could say this as well: you can’t have a Mark without a Barnabas.

At the time, Barnabas probably didn’t think he was a vital part of the writing of more than half of the New Testament. But he was. Where would we be without Paul’s epistles and Mark’s Gospel?

Don’t overlook the importance of encouraging one another as we serve the Lord! Be a Barnabas!             

Love,
Pastor Larry