After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." 37 Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. 39 The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (Acts 15:36-41, NRSV)
Paul and Barnabas were great friends; they had just completed a great work on a missionary journey where many came to know Jesus. Now Paul wanted to go back and encourage those who were new to the faith. Paul’s refusal to take John Mark with them creates a great enough tension between the friends that they split and go their separate ways. Barnabas took John Mark, “the one who had deserted them.”
John Mark had made one mistake and it was so serious to Paul that he wanted nothing more to do with him. It seems that Paul had a short memory. You see at one time Paul was a Pharisee, a person of high stature in the Jewish community. Jesus came into the picture, lived among those of lesser quality than Paul, had a great following, went to Jerusalem after three years of ministry where he was executed, placed in a tomb and on Sunday the place of internment was empty. Paul knew the claims of the people of The Way that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. He considered the claims about Jesus to be blasphemy and made it his mission to destroy the people of The Way. Paul killed Christians for a living.
One day, on the road to a place called Damascus the risen Christ literally laid Paul out on the ground and said, “Why are you persecuting me?” When you have such a “come to Jesus moment” you can’t help but believe; such was the case with Paul. He threw all of his passion into proclaiming the great news of forgiveness and power through a relationship with Jesus Christ. One day he walked into Jerusalem and the believers there were afraid of him, but Barnabas (Son of Encouragement) told Paul’s story and Paul was accepted into the community. All of this was pure grace; he was a killer of Christians but because he had come to Jesus and was passionate about him the Christian community forgave and accepted him.
Paul had killed Christians and was accepted. John Mark went home in the middle of a missionary journey and was told that because of his failure he was no longer wanted or needed. This seems out of balance.
Thank God for Barnabas who saw in John Mark not a failure but a person with potential. He and John Mark did ministry together and because of them many came to know Jesus Christ. I believe (although I have no evidence) that this one incident meant the world to John Mark. Somebody believed in him, somebody looked beyond the failure and saw what he could become. Somebody saw what God saw in him and decided he was a person of value with a great future in working for the kingdom of God.
It’s amazing what can happen when you see what God sees in another individual. The easy way to live our lives is to tear people down, focus on their mistakes and let them know they just don’t make the cut. It is difficult to look at a person that is irritating or who has let us down and look beyond their faults to focus on the potential of the individual. But God calls us to do that which is difficult, he calls upon us to be people like Barnabas, people of the second chance. In fact Jesus called us beyond that and tells us we are to be the people of the 70 times 7 chance.
When we start encouraging people who have let us down or don’t seem to rise to our level of expectation they begin to see themselves as people of value and capability. It also changes our attitude toward them and we begin to see them differently as well. Followers of Jesus are called to infuse value into people and to encourage them to become all that God has created them to be. Do you want to bring out the best in others? Stop tearing them down and begin building them up; you will see great things happen.
Pastor Tim