Mr. Encouragement

"Helping one person might not change the whole world, but it could change the world for one person." Paul Spear

Yesterday at Grace Point we studied the spiritual gift of exhortation/encouragement. In LIFE Group after the worship service we looked at the life of a disciple who was known as "Mr. Encouragement." His name was Joses, but the disciples called him "Barnabas" which means "Son of Encouragement." Barnabas is a pretty remarkable figure in the New Testament church, but unless you are looking for him, you might miss his contributions to the Kingdom.

We first meet Barnabas in Acts 4:37 where we are told that he sold some property and brought the proceeds to the disciples so they could use it to for ministry. Barnabas was a generous person and he encouraged the church with his sacrificial giving. People with the gift of encouragement often use their resources to bless others.

The next time we see Barnabas is Acts 9. Saul of Tarsus had been incredibly saved on the road to Damascus. He had been a notorious persecutor of Christians, but God dramatically changed his life and he began to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. After being run out of Damascus, Saul went to Jerusalem in the hopes of connecting with the apostles, who had been facing serious persecution. When they heard Saul was in town wanting the meet with them, they feared it was a trap and initially refused to meet with him. So, Mr. Encouragement comes to the rescue and stands with Saul, giving testimony of his salvation and transformation. The apostles had great faith in Barnabas and Saul is allowed to join them. He comes in and out among them until he leaves Jerusalem for a while.

A couple of chapters laters, Acts 11, Barnabas is sent to Antioch because word had come to Jerusalem that God was moving in the city and people were coming to faith in Christ. Barnabas saw the great things God was doing in Antioch and knew these new believers needed to be discipled, so he left Antioch and went Tarsus and found Saul and brought him to Antioch, and for a year he and Saul work among the new believers, discipling them in the Christian faith.

In Acts 13 Barnabas and Saul are chosen and sent out by the church on the first missionary journey. They travel around, sharing the gospel, making disciples and planting churches. They begin to encounter non-Jewish people who are coming to the Lord. When they return and tell of the wonderful things God is doing, a group of Jewish believers are concerned that non-Jewish believers are being saved, but aren't following the Jewish customs. The apostles take up the issue in Jerusalem and call on Saul (now being called "Paul") and Barnabas to give testimony to what the Lord had been doing. After hearing their words, the apostles declare that God can save anyone under any circumstance and following the Jewish customs is not required for salvation. Paul and Barnabas are sent out to share the news with all believers.

After spending more time in Antioch, Barnabas and Paul are ready to go back out on the mission field and revisit the believers and churches where they had gone before. Barnabas wants to take a young man named John Mark with them. Apparently John Mark had started out with them on their early journey, but somewhere along the way had left the group and returned home. Paul wasn't happy with John Mark because he had bailed out on them before, and he refused to let John Mark go with them. The Bible says that the contention between Barnabas and Paul became so great that two split up, and went their separate ways; Paul took Silas, and Barnabas took John Mark and headed out on a different route.

Barnabas is only mentioned a couple of other times in the writings of Paul, but we see from these episodes in the book of Acts what an impact he had on the movement of early Christianity.
1. Barnabas encouraged the church by his sacrificial giving when resources were needed to care for needy members of the church.
2. Barnabas stood by Saul/Paul before the apostles when they weren't willing to to trust him. He also went after Paul at Tarsus and brought him to Antioch to help disciple the new believers. Then he went with Paul on his first missionary journey to share the gospel and encourage believers. I can't help but wonder how Paul's life might have different (and how Christianity might have been different) had Barnabas not stood with him and encouraged him (Paul went on to write about 2/3 of the New Testament we have today).
3. Barnabas also took a stand at the Jerusalem Council for the non-Jews who were being saved. His words helped convince the apostles that Gentiles could be saved and receive the Holy Spirit without following the Jewish customs.
4. And Barnabas stood with John Mark, willing to give him a second chance, when Paul had given up on him. We don't really know what happened to Barnabas after he and John Mark left for Cyprus, but we know that John Mark went on to write the gospel that bears his name and give testimony to person of Jesus Christ.

Mr. Encouragement had a huge impact on early Christianity, even though he isn't often remembered for his contributions. I can't help but wonder how different things might be had Barnabas not stood with Paul and John Mark, and the non-Jewish believers. He may not get a lot of attention for his contributions, but he made a difference by his encouragement.

You may not feel like you have much to offer in service of the Lord; you may not have a lot of resources, or abilities, but you may be able to encourage another person who God uses to change the world. Never underestimate the power of encouragement.