Context
Irresistible force, meet immovable object!
When Saul of Tarsus met Jesus the passion with which he persecuted the church became the force with which he proclaimed Christ and nothing was going to stop him, not even his Jewish critics. Paul's first journey was a great success as many Gentiles came to Christ but he also encountered growing opposition from the circumcision party. He wrote the book of Galatians to forcefully confront their false teachings and to remind the Jewish leaders that the gospel was meant for the world, not just for the Jews.
Things came to a head in Acts 15, as Paul returned from his trip and went to Jerusalem to meet with the Apostles and figure out a unified approach to bringing together Jewish and Gentile elements of the church. They sought God, reached a compromise that unified the church and protected the gospel, and they moved the work of Christ forward.
Acts 15 ends with the sad chapter of the split between Paul and Barnabas over their ongoing missionary work and the role Mark would play. Barnabas, always the encourager, wanted to give Mark another chance and Paul was unwilling to do so. They could not agree and so went their separate ways. While they ministered apart it is not clear that they broke their fellowship or friendship. Sometimes the best path to unity is to bless each other and go your separate ways. We hear nothing more of Barnabas but we know that Mark became a great help to Paul later in his ministry.
When Saul of Tarsus met Jesus the passion with which he persecuted the church became the force with which he proclaimed Christ and nothing was going to stop him, not even his Jewish critics. Paul's first journey was a great success as many Gentiles came to Christ but he also encountered growing opposition from the circumcision party. He wrote the book of Galatians to forcefully confront their false teachings and to remind the Jewish leaders that the gospel was meant for the world, not just for the Jews.
Things came to a head in Acts 15, as Paul returned from his trip and went to Jerusalem to meet with the Apostles and figure out a unified approach to bringing together Jewish and Gentile elements of the church. They sought God, reached a compromise that unified the church and protected the gospel, and they moved the work of Christ forward.
Acts 15 ends with the sad chapter of the split between Paul and Barnabas over their ongoing missionary work and the role Mark would play. Barnabas, always the encourager, wanted to give Mark another chance and Paul was unwilling to do so. They could not agree and so went their separate ways. While they ministered apart it is not clear that they broke their fellowship or friendship. Sometimes the best path to unity is to bless each other and go your separate ways. We hear nothing more of Barnabas but we know that Mark became a great help to Paul later in his ministry.
Devotional - No Superheroes Needed
In one sense, the story makes me happy, in another, it makes me very sad. After the conference in Jerusalem that dealt with the conflict over Gentiles coming into the church, and how Jewish the church would be, Paul and Barnabas decided the time was right to head out on another mission trip to visit the churches they had already planted and to extend the gospel even further.
Then, according to Acts 15:36-41, a problem arose, having to do with Mark. Barnabas, always the encourager, wanted to bring him along and give him another chance - let him succeed this time. Paul was having none of it. The momma's boy had cut and run when they needed him and could not be trusted. This was important business they were doing and there was no way that they could trust a man like this again, at least not this soon. And the argument became pretty heated.
36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.It is clear what makes me sad about this story. Two great men, great friends, great servants of God, came to a parting of the ways because they could not work this issue out. Barnabas was the man who stood by Paul when no one else would and had been Paul's mentor, his discipler. Now, they were on the outs. It is a tragic story.
But what makes me happy? It makes me happy that the Word of God is REAL. It is not fictional make-believe in which people never make mistakes. Ever read a biography of a great Christian? We have a tendency when writing the life stories of great men or women to build them up into spiritual superheroes who could leap tall buildings in a single bound.
The Bible never does that. It tells us the real stories of real people. Jesus was perfect but the people who served him were not. Paul was a man - a man of God but also a sinner who had a temper and got his feelings hurt and struggled to forgive and - well, a man who was messed up just like me. Moses made mistakes. Elijah got discouraged. Abraham's faith failed him a time or two. David, the man after God's own heart, fell into grievous sin.
I love that the Bible is not about spiritual superheroes but people like me who struggle to keep it together, who fail and start over and who do things they wish they hadn't.
Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. Mark eventually became a useful friend and coworker, laboring with Paul in the gospel. We can hope that Barnabas and Saul's friendship survived this and thrived in the days ahead, though they ministered separately. God used even this sad episode to work his grace and to extend the kingdom.
The good news for you and me today is simple - God is not looking for spiritual superheroes to accomplish his kingdom work. He takes people like you and me, and Paul and Barnabas and he uses us - regular, ordinary, flesh and blood, sinful folks! God infuses us with the power of Christ and fills us with his Spirit to accomplish his mighty work through us.
Father, thank you for your grace. I am weak, but you are strong. Thank you that the only superhero in your kingdom is the One who rose from the grave and who is my Savior and Lord.
Think and Pray
Are you a perfectionist, thinking that you are required to be faultless to be useful to God?
It is Christ who is sinless and Christ alone.
Be thankful today that, while sin is never "okay," it is the goodness of Christ and his perfection that matters, not ours.
It is Christ who is sinless and Christ alone.
Be thankful today that, while sin is never "okay," it is the goodness of Christ and his perfection that matters, not ours.
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