Maybe we should let Barnabas up and dust him off. Despite what many people call Barnabas’ downfall in the story of the early church, God worked things out for two evangelistic journeys to result from his disagreement with Paul…
36 After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.” 37 Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. 38 But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. 39 Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. 40 Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care. 41 Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.
Acts 15:36-41 NLT
Barnabas wanted to take his cousin John Mark with them on this next missionary journey. Paul disagreed and apparently pointed out that Mark had not stayed committed to the work in Pamphylia, so therefore should not be relied upon for this next journey. He seemed to have a disagreement with Barnabas also, which is revealed more fully in Galatians 2.
Peter and Barnabas had shown some fickleness in their loyalty to the Gentile believers when the Judaizers came to town. They went from eating and drinking with the new converts to standing back and apparently siding with those who wanted them to adhere to Jewish Law in their newfound faith. Paul wasn’t having any of that.
If you read the opinions on Barnabas, there are many folks who are glad to throw him under the bus and leave him there, along with his cousin Mark. This has never sat well with me, as I am fine with disagreements and with God accomplishing his will through different people in different ways and in different places.
Luke writes that their disagreement was sharp, and we don’t have any further stories of them working together. We do have, however, acknowledgements of Barnabas’ further work for the kingdom as a ‘tent-making’ evangelist (1Corinthians 9:6), and Mark becomes a closer disciple of Paul’s when he is in Rome, perhaps after Barnabas was martyred (Colossians 4).
Paul and Peter both seem to emerge from these events as unscathed in terms of being the main characters of the New Testament. If I can push on this further, Paul can’t be interpreted in a bad light, and Peter becomes the human rock on which the church is built. Even though he seemed to be the one who dragged Barnabas down he comes back with his historical reputation intact.
Maybe we should let Barnabas up and dust him off. God worked things out for two evangelistic journeys to result from this situation, and it seems to have not burdened or thwarted the church’s growth through that time.
Amen.
Marc Kinna
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