Called and Sent

In almost no time after his conversion, Saul had the religious authorities in Damascus stirred up and calling for his death. The believers in ‘The Way’ helped him escape and he went to Jerusalem hoping to get acquainted with the disciples and Apostles there. Because of fear, they were not willing to invite him in. But there was a man named Barnabas who was willing to risk getting to know Saul. I wonder how or where he met Saul. Barnabas took him to the believers in Jerusalem and introduced him to them telling his story of conversion. Saul was then allowed to stay with them but in no time, he had stirred up the religious authorities in Jerusalem and had to be sent away because of a plot to kill him. So the believers sent Saul back to Tarsus.

How did Saul stir up the synagogue so quickly? Barely converted and he has had to leave two cities already because his life was threatened. It seems that his great knowledge of Scripture and prophecy allowed him to argue intelligently with the rulers. It may have been because they could not refute him in arguments that they tried to get rid of him physically. They did not want to believe what he believed, but they could not defend their views and interpretations of Scriptures. I can’t help but wonder if Saul’s presentation was a bit caustic as well or at least pushy.

Things settled down in Jerusalem and Samaria for a few years after Saul left. And then persecution increased greatly and believers were spread throughout the extended region as they moved to avoid being persecuted. They began to tell their new neighbors about their faith and more and more people began to believe in Jesus Christ and became his disciples. It seems the church grows faster under persecution – maybe because people don’t get too comfortable where they are at and move around a lot more meeting new people and sharing their faith.

“News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” Acts 11:22-26

Barnabas shows up again. He was a good teacher/evangelist in his own right. Many people were becoming believers. But Barnabas doesn’t say, “Look at me! See what I can do! I’m going to build a mega-church and name it after myself.” Instead, he goes and finds Saul because he sees an opportunity to mentor Saul. Saul, as a new believer, had a great story to tell. He had witnessed God’s mercy and forgiveness and he needed to tell others. But it seems that he did it in a very argumentative way and kept riling people up. Barnabas, on the other hand, seemed to have a gentle way about him. He was still in Jerusalem which would indicate he had figured out how to navigate the religious system and yet continue to teach and encourage others.

As I read between the lines, I wonder if Barnabas didn’t deliberately go after Saul in order to encourage him and teach him to be a good evangelist. Saul had all the head knowledge, but he didn’t know how to communicate it effectively. Barnabas was a good teacher and after mentoring Saul for a year in Antioch, Saul (also known as Paul) took off on the missionary journey of his life. The first leg of his journey, he and Barnabas went together. They made a good team. Barnabas likely picked up others to mentor along the way which later led to Paul and Barnabas going in different directions when they couldn’t agree on whether or not to take John Mark with them. Barnabas saw potential. Paul saw a problem.

We don’t hear a lot about Barnabas, but what we do find in Acts is enough to know that he was very instrumental in getting Paul started in his life as a well known missionary. I like Barnabas. He was a peacemaker of sorts – convincing the disciples in Jerusalem to give Saul a chance and teaching Saul to become a bit gentler and kinder in his presentation. I wonder if we looked behind other great teachers and evangelists through the ages if we wouldn’t find a ‘Barnabas’ nearby mentoring each of them, helping them find their calling so they can be sent by the church to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the world.