Friday, February 8, 2019
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but
they were all afraid of him. They did
not believe he had truly become a believer! Then Barnabas brought
him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus
and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He
also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus. So
Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them,
preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. He debated with some Greek-speaking Jews, but they
tried to murder him. When
the believers heard about this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him
away to Tarsus, his hometown. The church then had peace
throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers
lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit,
it also grew in numbers. Acts 9:26-31(NLT)
In 1983 the Southern Baptist
Convention was held in Pittsburgh. At one session there was a huge crowd in
attendance. The president, Dr. Jimmy
Draper was handed an announcement just as he was calling the meeting to
order. He read, Corey Morgan knows where he
is. Would his parents kindly come to the
information booth so Corey can know where they are?" Ten thousand people laughed. But for a few moments those thousands of
people stopped what they were doing because a 7-year old little boy needed to
be reunited with his parents.
There are people, millions of
people in this world who need reuniting with the Father who created them. Barnabas was just such a uniter. When all the other disciples were afraid and
just couldn’t believe Paul had changed, it was Barnabas who encouraged them to
get over it and embrace God’s miracle. Barnabas’
name even means son of encouragement. [ii]
Another time[iii] after
the stoning of Stephen, many of the believers from Jerusalem fled for their
lives. Those who went as far as Antioch (in
today’s southern Turkey) began preaching of Jesus to Jews they found there, but
also the Gentiles. Many of the Gentiles
began believing and were baptized. The elders
of this mainly Jewish movement couldn’t believe God was actually including
Gentiles. They sent Barnabas to check it
out. He went with an open mind, saw what
God was accomplishing there and couldn’t wait to go get Paul to help teach the
new disciples all about how to serve God.
When the
church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw
this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the
believers to stay true to the Lord. Barnabas
was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord. Acts 11:22-24(NLT)
From Acts 10 through 15 we find
Barnabas continually cooperating in bringing believers together, as well as
leading unbelievers to believe. The Holy
Spirit chose Barnabas to work with Paul on his missionary endeavors, starting
churches all over Asia Minor. When there
was difficulty or disagreement on methods or what to do, it was Barnabas who
helped people reconcile and get along[iv]. In doing so God was glorified by Barnabas’
life!
Being Barnabas isn’t easy today; it’s never been easy to reach out to opposite
sides of any fence – especially when tempers run hot – but the middle
way of mediation, grace, peace, and reconciliation is what Christ
has called his most capable followers to be.
As a preacher I can tell you it is a joy to stand with one hand holding-on
to God, and another hand reaching out to those who don’t know Him…and inviting
a meeting. It’s entirely different, and
much more perplexing to get in the middle of believers who lose their way and
get angry at each other. But that’s what
the Barnabas believers are called to be in this strange time!
So, who’s your hero? Billy Graham?
Joel Osteen? Donald Trump? Nancy Pelosi?
Tom Brady? Kobe Bryant? Socrates?
Einstein? Great leaders?
Let me suggest a heavenly hero – be
a Barnabas; it’s the 2nd fiddle that creates sweet harmony!
You chew on that as you hit the
Rocky Road; have a blessed day.
[iv] Compare
Acts 15:37-39 and 2 Timothy 4:11
