4-19-15. Every Mission Needs A Barnabas-my devotional
4-19-15. Every Mission Needs A Barnabas-my devotional
by Kevin E. Jesmer 4-19-15
Acts 9:27-28
“ But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.” (ESV)
In Acts 9 we find Saul approaching members of the newly founded church in Jerusalem. They were not sure how to respond to Saul. He was an enemy of the church, leading to the persecution of Christians, uprooting and imprisoning them and even putting some of them to death. When he approached the fellowship of believers in Jerusalem questions arose. Could they trust him? Could they allow themselves to be made vulnerable to him? After all they could be arrested and sent to jail like so many others.
But then along came Barnabas. He is a good example of trusting Jesus and encouraging others to see the work of God in others, when it is hard to do so. He is also the type of person who endorses another person to a ministry and gets them accepted by the congregation, even when others are leery.
In Acts 9:26-28 we are find Barnabas when Paul first comes to Jerusalem. Let’s read, “And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.” (ESV)
We see him bringing Saul into the gathering of the Apostles. Saul’s conversion was dramatic. Just recently he was bent on persecuting and eliminating the church. He was a liability to them. How could the Apostles trust him? Barnabas however had the discernment to see the hand of God in Saul’s life. He knew the truth of these words, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cori 5:17) He risked his reputation to identify and endorse Saul into the fellowship of the Apostles. Without Barnabas, Saul’s ministry may not have been accepted by the Jerusalem church and they would have lost out. But now, through Barnabas, he was accepted and he could carry on his mission in Jerusalem with the full support of the church. Barnabas was living out the meaning of his name, “Son of Encouragement”. And so Barnabas stands as a representative of those who recognize God’s work in people, who support and encourage new believers, and put themselves on the line to endorse such people into the fold, risking something of themselves in order to do so.
There are so many factors stopping Christians from trusting each other and co-working in mission together. There is territorialism, denominationalism, differences in mission strategy, differences in ways of worship, theology and preaching. These grow distrust on many levels. I was involved in student ministry for 26 years. One of the hardest things to do is find an advisor among university staff to stand up as the official advisor of your group. Professors are fearful of being associated with certain groups because their reputation is on the line if they do. But as we keep people “out”, protecting our interests, we miss the many “Paul’s” that God is sending our way. Missionaries are getting older, the need is getting greater, but yet we are stuck. We remain stuck until God intervenes by raising up Barnabas’ among us who can introduce newcomers to congregations, allowing the Gospel ministry to grow and expand in exciting and fruitful ways. Maybe God is calling you to be a Barnabas to some isolated missionary.
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