The Power of Encouragement

 

 Dante Bartiel Rossetti, the famous 19th-century poet and artist, was once approached by an elderly man. The old fellow had some sketches and drawings that he wanted Rossetti to look at and tell him if they were any good, or if they, at least, showed potential talent. Rossetti looked them over carefully. After the first few he knew that they were worthless, showing not the least sign of artistic talent.

Rossetti was a kind man and he told the elderly man as gently as possible that the pictures were without much value and showed little talent. He was sorry, but he could not lie to the man. The visitor was disappointed, but seemed to expect Rossetti’s judgment. He then apologized for taking up Rossetti’s time, but would he just look at a few more drawings these done by a young art student. Rossetti looked over the second batch of sketches and immediately enthused over the talent they revealed.

 "These," he said, "ah, these are good. This young man, whoever he is, has great talent. He should be given every help and encouragement in his career as an artist. He has a great future, if he will work hard and stick with it." Rossetti could see that the old fellow was deeply moved. "Who is this fine young artist?" he asked. "Your son?" "No," said the old fellow sadly. "It is me 40 years ago. If only I had heard your praise then for you see, I got discouraged and gave up too soon "(Steve Ely, 2008).

In the Christian faith great doctrines are a powerful means of shaping lives. But even more powerful is a great doctrine lived out by a real person. The story of a person who lived and died by that doctrine makes the truth more powerful in our lives. Barnabas is such a man. His name was Joseph but those who knew him best nicknamed him Barnabas “son of encouragement.”   He was known for his ability to inspire and support others. Because of this, he became a prime factor in the growth of the early Church.

In Acts 9:26-27 we read that after Saul’s conversion, “he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples.  The whole church was so afraid of him that he couldn't even join their fellowship as a new believer.  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.”

How did Barnabas know these positive things about Saul while the Apostles did not seem to know?” Barnabas, at risk to his own reputation, put his arm around Paul and brought him to the apostles.  He spoke up for him, telling these leaders that Paul was genuinely converted and completely committed to Christ. Barnabas took the time to stand with Paul and to speak for him.  He stuck his neck out when everyone else was afraid to give Saul a chance.

In Acts 11:21-24, we read about the explosive growth of the church in Antioch.  One remarkable feature of this church was how it started. It was not founded by apostles but by some unnamed men. These laymen were sharing Christ with the pagans and they were all meeting together, Jews and Gentiles, as one church!” Concerned, the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to check things out or possibly to mentor these new believers.

When Barnabas arrived, verse 23 tells us that he “saw the grace of God, he was glad and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.”  He saw evidence of God’s grace everywhere and because of that he was delighted.  If the apostles had sent a legalistic church member, he would have seen Jews and Gentiles eating together, not keeping the ceremonial laws.

Instead of rejoicing, he would have been horrified. But Barnabas was a man who lived by God’s grace and he had radar to spot God’s grace in other people’s lives.  He was even able to celebrate grace in an imperfect church.  He must have seen a lot of imperfection in these new converts. New believers do not drop all of their pagan baggage the day they get saved.

A church made up of people from such different backgrounds as those in Antioch was bound to have some irritations and conflicts. But rather than focusing on the imperfections and problems, Barnabas focused on God’s grace in saving these people. And true to his name he encouraged these new Christians with purpose of heart to remain true to the Lord.

Barnabas “was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (v.24).  Those who knew him well said, “He is a good man.” The Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) was evident in his life. He was full of faith in the living God. The way he lived attracted others to Christ; And as a result, “a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (v.24).   

At some point, he began to realize that the work in Antioch was more than he could handle. He realized that he did not have all the gifts that were needed to see this church prosper. His ministry in Antioch had become so successful (Acts 11:24. He could have said “I have earned a good reputation for my work. It is now time to consolidate my gains and establish myself as a prominent preacher”. But what does he do?

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 (Acts 11:25-26). Paul had been sent back to Tarsus his hometown (Acts 22:3) when his enemies in Jerusalem tried to kill him (Acts 9:29-30). Barnabas went searching for him and brought him to Antioch where they worked together.

It is so interesting how Barnabas saw an opportunity and looked for others to help. He was not threatened to bring this gifted man back to Antioch to share in the work with him. In the case of Saul, working alongside Barnabas was a massive step in his own development. Barnabas’s mentoring relationship with Paul was a significant factor in Paul’s development into an influential leader in the early Christian church.

Through Barnabas’ ministry with Paul, the believers in Antioch learned to be like Jesus in their words, actions and overall conduct. They were so much like Christ, that early “Christ-followers” were called Christians for the first time in Antioch(Acts 11:26). A great famine broke out in Jerusalem and the believers chose to send aid through Barnabas and Paul. The believers trusted that they would deliver the aid as intended (Acts 11:27-30).

Barnabas and Saul brought a young man named John Mark back to Antioch with them from Jerusalem (Acts 12:25). Barnabas brought his own cousin to ministry. Acts 13:2-5 shows how the Holy Spirit separated Barnabas and Paul for a special work as missionaries.  When they left on their first missionary journey, they went with John Mark but before it was complete Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:5,13 ).

When Paul prepared to take another missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to give John another chance but Paul would hear none of it. Paul did not think very highly of Mark and refused to have him on the team. Acts 15:39 says “ there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other.”   Barnabas took Mark and went one direction and Paul settled on Silas and went a different route. This is the last mention of this great man, Barnabas, in the book of Acts.

Barnabas chose to part ways with Paul in order to restore a fallen brother.  Paul had labelled Mark a loser but because Barnabas was an encourager, he never gave up on him. The only label he put on Mark was this, “you are work in progress”.  Encouragingly this incident does not however appear to have been the end of the good relationship between these three men.

Ten years pass from the time of the argument and in 1 Corinthians 9:6 Paul is able to talk about Barnabas and say, “my friend, my fellow apostle, my partner, my co-worker.” He wrote of Barnabas in positive, present-tense terms, suggesting that he continued to conduct a ministry well known enough for Paul to use him as an illustration with the Corinthian church. Something had happened to bring about reconciliation and healing.

We also know from Scripture that Barnabas did a good job on Mark. Because Barnabas poured courage into Mark, this fearful, discouraged and defeated man became a contributing member of the team once again.  Paul eventually realized that Mark mattered to his own ministry.  In Colossians 4:10 Paul wrote “my fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas”. Right before he died, Paul wrote to Timothy “get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11).  

Barnabas was the major human instrument that God used to nurture Paul for his appointed gentile ministry (Acts 9:15). Under the mentorship of Barnabas, Paul was transformed from a persecutor of the church to a devoted minister of Christ to the Gentiles (Roman 15:16). While we rightly think of Paul as the strategic spokesman for Christ in the New Testament, we must never forget that behind Paul was a Barnabas.

Paul seemed to be echoing Barnabas when he wrote to Timothy, “the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2) .Just as Barnabas had an influential mentoring relationship with Paul, so Paul had an influential mentoring relationship with Timothy, Silas and Titus (1Cor. 4:17; 2 Cor. 1:1; 1 Thess. 1:1 and Titus 1:4).

Under the providence of God in the life of the early Church, we owe the ministry of two great leaders to the initiative and advocacy of Barnabas. The two leaders are Paul and John Mark. As far as we know, Barnabas wrote none of the books in the New Testament but the men he nurtured wrote a third of it. Paul wrote 13 of the epistles of the New Testament and Mark wrote one of our four gospels.

Hundreds of God's great and faithful servants have vanished from history. They are remembered by no one but God. However, not all have been forgotten. Barnabas is one of them. God intends for their lives to give us inspiration and guidance. Hebrews 13:7says “consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith”. The most important thing you may ever do for the cause of Christ may go unnoticed, but God keeps good records and you will be rewarded someday.